Storms of Quicksilver
by Carol
Summary: DS #10 Darien must protect his family from a madman with the help of the Agency and someone unexpected
1. Prologue

Devil's Silver #10: Storms of Quicksilver (Prologue)

By Carol M.

Summary: Darien must protect his family from a madman with the help of the Agency and someone unexpected.

Rating: PG-13 to R for violence, angst, and maybe a little sex

Spoilers: little bitty ones that can be kind of fun to spot

Disclaimer: Don't own them, just play with them

Devil's Silver Stories: Devil's Silver, Gilligan and Mrs. Howell, Follow the Breadcrumbs, Brother to Brother, A Tale of Two Brothers, Wicked Game, A Wedding Story, Uninvited, A Life for a Life (all at ff.net under Carol in I-man section)

Note: Yes folks, I finally wrote another Devil's Silver. There are several things to keep in mind for this story. One is that Darien is still afflicted with QSM. DS went out into it's own universe a long time ago, so pretty much everything on the show after Brother's Keeper has been ignored. Two is that this is a basic sequel to Uninvited with references to A Life for a Life. I strongly suggest that you go back and at least skim through Uninvited if you don't remember it. For those who vaguely remember it, I'm bringing back my fave bad guy Jason Sullivan (Stark's brother, the guy who's stuck in permanent Stage Five QSM thanks to Arnaud and who nearly beat Darien to death. Oh yeah, and Arnaud still has a gland, but he's not permanently invisible anymore). Anyway, old Jason has been locked up in the loony bin for a few years and wanted to come out and play. One other thing about this story, it takes place five years after A Life for a Life. This means that Katie Fawkes is five years old and no longer an infant. I did this primarily because I wanted to focus on the relationship between Darien and his daughter. I know, I know, I aged her like a soap opera, hehehehe, so sue me. Anyway, enough of my rambling. Enjoy it, kiddies!!!

Jason Sullivan was used to the plain white walls by now. He had been in the same room for six years, sentenced to live out the rest of his life in a cell by the good people of San Diego. Three counts of murder, five counts of attempted murder, property destruction, mayhem; the usual for someone who was in permanent stage five quicksilver madness.

He sat perched in his bed, looking at the nasty wall where a two-way mirror had once hung that had allowed the doctors to observe him. The mirror had been broken three times in his six-year reign. He had managed to cut the throat of one of his doctors with a piece of the glass the first year he had been there. In the second year, he had knicked one of the arteries in his left arm, leaving a thick nasty scar that stretched from his wrist to his elbow. After the murder of a nurse, the doctors and security guards had decided to remove the mirror permanently from his cell.

Besides the white walls, there was the bed. Hard as hell and just as uncomfortable. One crappy, flea infested pillow. A book. Two changes of clothing. A small toilet. Toilet paper. And a small doggy door where he got his food and other amenities. 

Oh yes, and there were the thermal detectors. Detectors on the walls, detectors on the ceilings, detectors on the floor, hell, even detectors in the damn bed. If Jason decided to put his gland to use, they would see him no matter what. Or so they thought.

For six years, Jason had done nothing but perfect his use of the gland. He had gotten so good at maintaining his quicksilver, that he could turn his bed invisible for the better part of a month with just one touch. He figured it had something to do with the extremely high amounts of quicksilver in his body. Or maybe it had something to do with the permanent stage five quicksilver madness, he couldn't be sure. The more he manipulated the quicksilver, the thicker it got. Even with thermals, it was hard to see Jason. Sometimes the quicksilver was so thick it managed to reduce the outline of his body heat through thermals into nothing more than a slight sparkle through the air. And there had been that one time when he had gone completely see through, undetectable even through the most sensitive of sensors and thermal goggles. Of course, he wasn't supposed to know that.

It had happened about six months ago. Jason had been quicksilvered for three weeks straight, adding layer after layer of cold quicksilver to his body. And then the world had turned see through, literally. Jason had X-ray vision. The sensation had lasted for approximately a minute, but in that minute, his whole life changed. He didn't realize what was happening until he heard the panicked shouts of the guards outside his doggy door, screaming that the monitors had lost him and that the thermals weren't working. Jason had dropped the quicksilver instantly and feigned unconsciousness, all the while listening to the hushed conversations outside his door.

"It must be a malfunction," he had heard one of the doctors say.

"We need to heighten security," one of the guards had offered.

"He couldn't have known what he was doing, how could he have known?" another one of the doctors rambled.

Jason stayed "unconscious" for three days. When prompted by one of the doctors after he had woken up, he feigned amnesia and said he had no idea what they were talking about. He told them he had felt sick from all of the quicksilver and passed out. The doctor seemed to buy his story. But that was the last time another doctor entered his cell. Now all his therapy and words of encouragement were fed to him through his doggy door. They had even added another guard outside his door. Apparently, the newfound discovery of his temporary invisibility had them even more terrified of an attempted escape. And with Jason's history, they had every right to be.

In his first year at the hospital, he had attempted to escape five times. Once, he even made it out to the main lobby, only to be stopped by a powerful tranq dart that had left him unconscious for a week. The second year had been more of the same. Three escape attempts and the murder of one of his guards. After that, they had increased the security outside his door from two guards to four. And now there was yet another guard to contend with.

Jason wasn't worried though. He had spent the past three months planning his last escape attempt. He had decided he would either get the hell out of this place or die trying. He wanted his freedom. But more than anything, he wanted revenge. Revenge against the two men he hated most in this world: Darien Fawkes and Arnaud De Phon.

He kept a mental picture of them in his head at all times. It kept him going in this place. It was something to live for. He had to take revenge against the man responsible for his brother's death and the man who had let him go permanently insane.

So he had planned. Planned and schemed. He knew exactly what he had to do. And today was the day he was going to do it.

**

"How's Marshall doing?" asked Jeffrey, the newest doctor at Fairbridge, as he glanced at the five monitors sitting in front of Tom, the security tech.

Tom looked up and shrugged. "Fine. Completely out of it. Hasn't moved from his bed all day."

"Good, good. What about Sullivan? What's that crazy son of a bitch been up to?" asked Jeffrey curiously as he leaned down closer to the monitors. "Damn, he's still invisible, huh," he said as he saw the blue specks of Jason's invisible figure on the screen.

"Yep," answered Tom. "Been that way for almost a month now."

Jeffrey sighed heavily and stood up straight. "I just wish we could see him. Make our jobs a whole lot easier."

"You're telling me, man," said Tom as he picked up a bag of chips that was sitting next to him. He began to noisily crunch the chips between his teeth. 

"I'm going to head out," said Jeffrey as he headed for the door.

"Okay man, see you…. whoa," said Tom as he dropped the bag of chips he was eating and sat up straight, staring at the monitors straight ahead.

"What? What's wrong?" asked Jeffrey.

"I lost him," said Tom as he pointed at Jason's screen. "Wait, he's back."

Jeffrey bent down and stared at the screen, seeing images of the blue glow of Jason's figure convulsing. Every few seconds he would disappear completely from the monitor, only to come back moments later in a sparkling hue of blue light. "What the hell?" whispered Jeffery. "Alert the medical team now," he shouted as he ran out of the room.

Tom picked up a phone and dialed three. "This is security, we need med staff to room two stat."

As Tom was talking to the operator, Jeffrey was making his way quickly down to Jason's room. He passed the armed guards and showed them his I.D. badge. "Sullivan's having some kind of attack."

One of the guards stepped in front of the door with his gun drawn. "My orders are not to let anyone in or out of this room," he said firmly.

Jeffrey sighed in anger. "Look, I appreciate that Sullivan is a dangerous person, but that doesn't mean he should just be allowed to die. Come in there if you want, I just need to check him out."

The guard stared long and hard at Jeffrey and finally pulled up his gun. He pointed down to the ground and handed him a pair of thermal goggles. "Check him through the door."

Jeffrey gave the guard an irritated stare and then got down on his hands and knees, putting on the goggles. He pushed open the doggie door and glanced at the blue convulsing form of Jason who had started to moan and whimper in pain. "Mr. Sullivan, can you hear me?"

Jason's response was more violent convulsions, followed by a harsh moan of pain. "Something's wrong," said Jeffrey as he stood up. "I have to get in there."

"No can do, sir," said the guard.

"He could be dying," said Jeffrey.

"He could be faking," countered the guard.

"Fine, then cover me when I go in there. Sullivan might be able to turn invisible, but that doesn't mean he's bullet proof," said Jeffrey.

"What's going on down here?" came the angry voice of an older man as he ran up the hall. He carried a medical bag in his arms and two female nurses were trailing behind him.

Jeffrey pointed at the guard. "Dr. Edwards, he won't let me in."

The guard gave Dr. Edwards a cold stare. "My orders are to not let anyone in or out of his room."

"And who do you think gave you those orders, son? Just because Mr. Sullivan is psychotic doesn't mean it forfeits his right to medical care. Let us in please," said Dr. Edwards firmly.

The guard raised an eyebrow and then pulled a key out of his pocket. "Fine, have it your way," he said as he handed the key to Dr. Edwards along with another pair of thermal goggles.

Dr. Edwards eyed the key fearfully, his face illustrating that he was having second thoughts. He took a deep breath and then stuck the key in the keyhole. "Cover me," he said to the guards as he turned the lock.

The door popped open and the group was greeted with the sight of Jason's blue quivering form on the floor. Dr. Edwards and Jeffrey cautiously approached the patient while the guards all aimed their guns right at him. The female nurses, who both lacked thermal goggles, stared in fear at the empty floor of the cell.

Dr. Edwards slowly moved next Jason. "Mr. Sullivan…It's Dr. Edwards. It's been a while," he said as he kneeled down cautiously next to him. "Can you tell me what the problem is?" he asked, trying not to quiver too much in his proximity to the killer.

"Can't breath," rasped Jason as his blue glowing body started to convulse again. The doctors stepped closer to his glowing figure and then suddenly, Jason disappeared from their thermal radars.

"What the hell's going on?" yelled Dr. Edwards as he adjusted his goggles.

One of the guards raised his gun, but it was too late. The gun was pulled from his grasp and suddenly blood was leaking from his chest. The other guards started to fire random shots, but one by one, they went down, all shot point blank in the head.

The two nurses went running down the hall, while Dr. Edwards and Jeffrey stared at one another through their goggles, trying to mask their panic.

"Oh my…" Jeffrey was cut off by a bullet to his brain. He fell to the ground, already a memory.

Dr. Edwards raised his hands in surrender, his body shaking like a leaf. "Please, I'll do whatever you want."

"Key," he heard the voice of Jason say out of thin air.

Dr. Edwards shakily reached into his pocket and pulled out the card key that let him in and out of the various floors and passages to the building. He threw it on the floor and then started to cry. "Please, I have a family, a little girl. Please," he begged. Jason's body suddenly reappeared through Dr. Edward's thermal glasses, the outline of his blue body seeming to be something out of a horror movie. 

"Thanks for the hospitality," said Jason as he slugged Dr. Edwards across the face with his gun. Then he quickly ran out of the room and down the hall, barely avoiding the thermal equipped guards that were approaching from the other end of the hall. He rounded a corner and then stuck out his gun, firing his gun with everything he had. Before the guards knew what hit them, they were dead. Jason breathed a sigh of relief and quickly made his way to the door that led to the emergency exit, all the while praying that the hallways and the rest of the building weren't equipped with thermal sensors since he was no longer able to maintain the quicksilver level required for complete thermal invisibility. When he reached the ground floor and hadn't been stopped, he realized that luck had been on his side. He reached the door that led to the outside world and bashed through it, basking in the sunlight that greeted him. He took in a deep breath of fresh air and started laughing maniacally to himself as he tore off into the woods surrounding the hospital. Once he had gotten about a hundred yards away, he turned around for a moment and glanced back at his home of six years. It was deceptively calm outside, the only thing signaling that something might be wrong was the sound of an alarm that must have been triggered by one of the guards. Jason blew a kiss at the building and then stalked off into the woods, whistling a happy tune to himself. Today had been a good day. And they were only going to get better.

**

Hours later, Tom was staring at the mangled corpses on the video screen in Jason's room. He watched in horror as the medical staff began removing the bloody bodies out of the room one by one, trying to forget the images of their deaths in his mind.

The door slammed open and Tom quickly turned his head in a panic, still a tad paranoid that a psychotic invisible man was floating around the halls. Instead he was greeted with the tired looking face of Dr. Edwards. He was holding an icepack over a giant bruise that had formed over his left cheekbone. "What can I do for you, sir?" asked Tom.

Dr. Edwards ignored him and walked straight to the VCR recording all the activities going on in Jason's room. He tore the tape out of the VCR and dropped it on the floor, smashing it into a million pieces with his foot.

"What the hell are you doing?" asked Tom as he quickly kneeled down on the floor to try and salvage the remnants of the mangled tape.

"This didn't happen," said Dr. Edwards simply.

"What didn't happen?" asked Tom in confusion.

Dr. Edwards arched an eyebrow. "There was no escape today."

Tom shook his head in protest. "Sir, what about the families of Jeffery? Hell, what about Mark and Noah?"

"Who?" asked Dr. Edwards.

"The security guards," answered Tom.

Dr. Edwards shrugged. "One of the guards went nuts. Seems that after all the years of guarding psychotics he became one himself. Nearly killed everyone before he was stopped."

Tom sat back down in his chair and crossed his arms over his chest. "So you're just going to cover this up? Sullivan is dangerous. Probably as dangerous as they come."

Dr. Edwards shrugged. "And how do you propose that we catch him? Canvas the earth with thermal goggles? What exactly are we supposed to do if pulls his little thermal invisibility trick again?" yelled Dr. Edwards. "Look, this hospital is in enough trouble as it is with all the murders that have taken place here the past couple of years. What good will it do acknowledging that he escaped? There's nothing we can do. There's nothing anyone can do. So in other words, it never happened."

"Sir," countered Tom.

"Aren't you trying to get into medical school, son?" asked Dr, Edwards.

Tom nodded. "Yes, but…"

"Well it wouldn't look too good on your record if you disobeyed a superior's order, would it?" said Dr. Edwards.

Tom sighed. "No it wouldn't."

Dr. Edwards smiled coldly. "Good, so we're in agreement."

Tom clenched his jaw. "Yeah, we're in agreement. Nothing happened."

"That's what I like to hear. You're going to be a fine doctor one day," said Dr. Edwards. He took one last glance at the live feed still coming from Jason's room and then walked out the door.

Tom closed his eyes and shook his head in disbelief. Then he glanced back at the screen, staring at the blood that stained the ceilings and the floors of Jason's former cell. Something told him that this was only the beginning of Jason's bloodshed.

TBC—This is only the beginning, folks. It's gonna get real rough. Bring ropes and a warm jacket. Just trust me on this one.


	2. Part 1

DS #10 Storms of Quicksilver (1/?)

By Carol M.

See prologue for details. 

Here's some intro to Katie and her role in the Fawkesy family. Don't worry, action and angst to come very soon. Enjoy!

Three weeks after Prologue

"Cat. C-A," Katie started to falter. "Um…"

"Come on, you know this," encouraged Darien from his position across from her on the couch.

"T?" asked Katie.

"Yes!" said Darien with excitement. "Okay, last one. Dog," he said as he looked at Katie expectantly.

Katie took a deep breath. "Okay. Dog. D-O…D-O…" She looked up at Darien for encouragement.

"Keep going, you've almost got it," he said.

"G?" said Katie, slightly unsure.

Darien smiled widely and started clapping his hands. "Bravo, bravo you're going to kick butt in the spelling bee."

Katie beamed excitedly. "Just as long as I beat Freddy Taylor," she said in a slightly miffed tone.

Darien raised an eyebrow. "Do I detect a little tension between you two young spelling scholars?" he asked curiously.

Katie stepped forward and collected her word list from Darien, putting it inside her backpack. "He teases me."

"He teases you? How does he tease you?" asked Darien.

"He always pulls my hair and calls me names. Sometimes he pushes me in the mud at recess," answered Katie. "I hate him."

A small smile appeared on Darien's face. "Wow," he said with amusement. "You know Kates, sometimes boys can be kind of stupid. 

"Stupid?" said Katie.

Darien nodded. "Yeah, you know, sometimes when they like a girl, they'll do all this crazy stuff to impress them like teasing them, pushing them, things like that."

Katie frowned. "Why would they do that?"

Darien shrugged. "Cause most boys don't have a clue when it comes to girls. Take it from me, I should know. Just ask your mom about all the crazy stuff I've done to try and impress her."

Katie giggled. "She's told me."

"Oh, so you two have been gossiping about me?" asked Darien teasingly. "What did she tell you exactly?"

Katie sat next to Darien with a small smile on her face. "Like the time you tried to hook up her new computer and ended up destroying it."

"Hey now, that wasn't my fault. It was a manufacturer's error," replied Darien innocently.

"Sure it was, daddy," said Katie. "What about the time you tried to bake a cake and blew up the oven?"

"Well now the way I remember it, you were the one helping me with that cake. You should have known better then to let me anywhere near an oven," said Darien.

"I was two years old," answered Katie.

"Yeah, you still should have known better," countered Darien.

Katie laughed and started playing with Darien's hair. "Your hair's getting kind of big," she said as she spiked it up even higher than usual.

"Are you saying I need a haircut, shorty?" he asked.

"Yeah," said Katie.

"You know what happens when the word haircut is mentioned in this house," said Darien as he began to tickle Katie.

"No!" laughed Katie. "Stop, stop! Okay… you don't need a haircut!" she cried out as Darien continued his assault.

"Good girl," said Darien as he let up.

"What are you two doing?" asked Claire as she popped out from the side of the kitchen.

"Daddy was tickling me," said Katie.

" I was not," said Darien innocently.

Claire smiled with amusement. "Yeah right, Darien." She glanced in Katie's direction. "Sweetie, can you help me serve dinner?"

"Sure," said Katie as she hopped off the couch. She turned back and looked at Darien's hair. "I was just kidding, daddy. I like when your hair gets big. It's fun to play with."

Darien beamed. "You always know just what to say, Kates."

Katie smiled and skipped off into the kitchen behind Claire.

Darien sank back in the couch and observed his two ladies preparing dinner. Tingles ran through his body as he watched Claire smile at Katie's attempts to serve green bean casserole without spilling any on the floor. Claire's hair was up in a tight ponytail and she wore just a hint of make up, leaving her greenish eyes to sparkle against the light of the kitchen. Darien sighed. His wife had managed to grow prettier with every passing day, making him love her even more.

He glanced from Claire to Katie, noting how similar they looked when they stood side by side. Katie had thick blonde hair that went all the way down to her waist. She was already tall for her age and also incredibly slender. She also had similar facial features to her mother. But she had Darien's eyes. Big brown puppy dog eyes that she used against her father at least twice a week. He was putty in her hands.

Life had been a roller coaster for the past couple of years. After Royce McClellan had decided to use him as his own human terminator, Darien had developed an extreme fear of QSM, even suffering from panic attacks and depression months after he was rescued. In response, Claire had worked diligently to keep her husband from going mad by watching the monitor with a close eye and occasionally going through cycles where she gave him smaller amounts of the counteragent more often.

They had all gotten lucky. Darien had only gone quicksilver mad about five times in as many years. The only problem in the horizon was Darien's impending immunity to the counteragent. It hadn't happened yet and probably wouldn't for another couple of years, according to Claire, but the threat was still there. It was something that Claire was ever working to find a solution to and something that left Darien with nightmares several times a week.

And then there was Katie. She was the shining star of the Agency. Bobby and Alex's niece, Eberts favorite video game buddy, the Official's granddaughter, Claire's best friend and Darien's little girl. Darien and Claire had decided right off the bat to tell Katie everything about the quicksilver gland and the threats that came with it. Katie had taken it in stride, her only condition to having a father with an invisibility gland was that he show it off one day in her class for show and tell. She couldn't quite grasp the concept of top secret government weapon. 

Out of the five years that she had been in his life, Darien only had only one bad memory when it came to Katie, a memory that left his heart cold just thinking about it. It had happened about a year ago. He had gone quicksilver mad and hit Katie. He hadn't really physically hurt her besides a few bruises, but he would never forget the look of terror in her eyes as he had approached her and slapped her repeatedly across the face. As soon as he was sane again and realized what he had done, Katie had curled up next to him and hugged him while he cried and apologized to her until his voice gave out. She had forgiven him instantly, but it had nearly killed him. It was even worse then raping Claire or trying to kill Bobby. This ate away at his soul, knowing that he had hurt his innocent little girl. Claire had been angry at first, but had soon forgiven him after she saw the torment that it was putting him through. He would spend the rest of his life trying to make it up to the both of them.

"Darien, time to eat," yelled Claire, knocking him out of his thoughts.

"Yes ma'am," said Darien as he got off the couch and headed towards the kitchen in their cozy home. They had bought the modest three-bedroom house two years ago, finally ditching Darien's loft apartment for good. It had a large kitchen, which made Claire happy, a pool, which made Katie happy and a huge big screen TV, which made not only Darien, but Bobby happy as well. "What's for dinner, girls?" he asked as he sat down to the table.

"Ham, potatoes, and green bean casserole," replied Claire as she sat down a plate of food in front of him.

"My favorite," said Darien as he forked a mouthful of ham into his mouth.

Claire smiled and sat down at the table next to him. "It was Katie's idea," she said as she placed a napkin in her lap and poured a small glass of wine.

Darien raised an eyebrow in Katie's direction. "Is that right?" he asked.

Katie nodded. "Yeah," she said shyly.

Darien glanced at Claire. "Our kid's something else, isn't she?" he said proudly.

"You don't have to tell me that, Darien. Eberts is thinking of making Katie his assistant file clerk," she said in amusement.

"Oh, well, Katie, that is an honor," said Darien. "Eberts is very picky when it comes to choosing who he files with. Your Uncle Bobby couldn't take the pressure."

Katie laughed. "Uncle Bobby has been teaching me Hopkido. And Auntie Alex has been teaching me about boys." 

Darien choked on a bit of potato and started coughing. "Boys? She's teaching you about boys?" he said incredulously.

Katie nodded pleasantly. "Uh huh."

Darien glanced at Claire and shook his head. "Great, just great."

Claire smiled. "Oh Darien, calm down. Alex has just been giving Katie tips on how to not be so nervous around some of the boys in her class."

"What a minute. You knew about this?" asked Darien.

"Darien, I had my first boyfriend in the first grade. He gave me a plastic ring, and I thought I was in love," said Claire dreamily. "Of course, our relationship only lasted about two hours, but let me tell you, it was one of the fondest two hours of my life."

"Oh, so now you tell me. How am I supposed to compete with the first boyfriend?" asked Darien, sulking slightly.

"Are you jealous, daddy?" asked Katie.

"I think he is," said Claire teasingly as she glanced at Katie.

"Daddy's jealous, daddy's jealous," said Katie in a singsong voice.

"I am not," said Darien as he chewed on some more ham.

"Are to, are to," said Katie.

Darien blushed and smiled slightly. "Okay, so I'm jealous."

Claire leaned towards Darien and planted a soft kiss on his cheek. "No need to be, honey."

Katie wrinkled her nose in disgust. "Ewww, kissies."

Claire sat back in her chair and drank a bit of wine. "You'll change your mind one day, sweetie."

"Yeah, it better not be until you're at least thirty. I see you kissing anybody before then and you're grounded," said Darien.

Claire elbowed Darien teasingly in the ribs and joined Katie in laughter as the trio continued to eat their dinner.

Hours later, Darien lay beside Katie in her bed, finishing up the last of her bedtime story Cinderella.

"And they all lived happily ever after," said Darien as he closed the book and set it on her nightstand. He grabbed Katie's treasured stuffed bunny and snuggled it into her arms. "Sleep tight, shorty," he said as he placed a gentle kiss to her cheek.

Katie wrapped her arms around Darien's neck and pulled him in for a tight squeeze. "Night daddy," she said in a tired tone.

Claire walked into the bedroom and sat down on the bed next to Darien and Katie. "So what did we read tonight?"

"We finished Cinderella," responded Katie.

"Oh, I love Cinderella," said Claire dreamily. "A handsome prince to the rescue," she said as she gave Darien a quick smile. "I guess this means I get to read to you tomorrow night," she said to Katie with excitement.

"Uh oh, watch out Katie, she's going to be reading you Scientific American," said Darien in a kidding tone.

"I am not," responded Claire. "It'll be a surprise, honey," she said as she leaned in and kissed Katie on the forehead.

"Goodnight mommy," responded Katie as her eyelids started to close.

Claire switched off the lamp and Darien pulled Katie's covers up to her chin. Then hand in hand, Darien and Claire walked to their bedroom and got into their own bed. Claire lay down on her back, while Darien curled up against her, resting his head against her chest. His hand wondered down to her belly where he began to rub ticklish circles through the silk of her blue nightgown.

Claire laughed and tried to get away. "Stop that," she yelled as she brought her hands to Darien's sides and began to tickle him back.

"Aw crap, that's not fair, I'm sensitive," yelped Darien.

Claire cocked her head. "Don't I know it," she whispered in a seductive tone.

"Did I detect a challenge in there Dr. Fawkesy?" asked Darien.

"I believe you did," replied Claire in a smug tone.

Darien bent down over her and pressed his lips against hers, letting his tongue gently slip into her mouth. Claire accepted his tongue and began to massage it with her own. At the same time she began rubbing her hands through his hair and against his scalp. Darien moaned and lifted his head, gazing deep into Claire's eyes. "I love you," he whispered softly.

Claire pulled his head back to her. "I love you too," she said as she began to ravage his mouth with her own. 

The couple made love and then fell into a peaceful sleep, unaware that everything was about to go to hell.

TBC


	3. Part 2

DS#10 Storms of Quicksilver (2/?)

By Carol M.

See prologue for details. Let the games begin…

"Nelson has been tried and convicted, sentenced to live out the rest of his days in prison," said the Official proudly the next morning. "Nice job, boys. Case closed," he said as he gazed at Darien and Bobby, who were sitting in chairs opposite his desk.

Darien stretched out his hand in Bobby's direction and the partners slapped hands. "Nice," whispered Darien.

"So what's next, chief?" asked Bobby curiously.

"Well, Monroe's working on a small time drug operation, but other than that, we have no cases pending. So as far as I can tell, you two are on vacation," said the Official.

Darien's mouth dropped to the floor. "Vacation?" He glanced at Bobby in confusion. "Did he just say vacation?"

Bobby nodded happily. "Vacation," he confirmed.

Darien glanced back at the Official. "Can we get that in writing?"

The Official was about to respond when a sudden knock on the door interrupted him. "Come in," he said loudly.

Eberts stepped through the door, accompanied by a nervous looking young man dressed in a preppy white shirt and crisp khakis. "Sir, this is Tom Wellborn. He said it was urgent that he talk with you."

Darien and Bobby exchanged curious glances.

"Mr. Wellborn, have a seat," said the Official.

"Thank you, sir," said Tom as he took the empty chair next to Bobby.

"What's this about?" asked the Official.

Tom took a deep breath and cleared his throat. "What I'm doing could possibly jeopardize my career, but I thought this Agency had a right to know."

"Know what?" asked Darien curiously.

"I'm an employee at Fairbridge Psychiatric Hospital in Oaks Crossing," started Tom.

Darien's mind suddenly flashed. "Fairbridge? Wait a minute, isn't that where they stuck Sullivan?" he asked, his stomach doing flip-flops.

"Yes, Jason Sullivan. That's why I'm here actually. He…um…he escaped from the hospital three weeks ago," said Tom.

Darien audibly gasped and squeezed his eyes shut, willing the burrito he had eaten for breakfast to stay down.

"What do you mean, escaped?" asked Bobby urgently.

"He faked a seizure and then got a hold of one of the guards guns. He killed six people before he made it out of the building," said Tom.

"Why weren't we told about this?" asked the Official furiously.

"The reputation of the hospital," stated Tom "I'm sure you've all heard about the number of guards and doctors Sullivan has murdered through out the years. The government has threatened on more than one occasion to shut down the hospital," said Tom. "Plus there was the actual nature of the escape," he added.

"What do you mean?" asked the Official.

Tom threw up his hands. "We're not really sure how it happened or why it happened, but Mr. Sullivan's quicksilver is capable of turning him completely invisible for about a minute after certain instances of access quicksilver use."

"That's kind of the point there, my friend," said Bobby.

"When I say invisible, I mean completely invisible. Meaning no thermal goggles can detect him. Something about the thickness or its ability to adapt to room temperature…I don't know, we never really figured it out," said Tom.

"So he could be here right now?" said Darien in a slightly quivering tone as he quicksilvered his eyes and glanced around the room, not spotting anything.

"No," said Tom in a distracted tone as he watched Darien's eyes disappear momentarily. "We've seen it happen twice, both times after he's been heavily quicksilvered for about approximately four weeks. There's no way he could retain the thermal invisibility long enough to get up to this office from the ground floor," answered Tom.

Darien didn't look too comforted. In fact, he looked even more freaked out than before.

"Back to my original question, why the hell weren't we informed about this?" asked the Official, his face red with anger.

"Once Sullivan escaped, there wasn't much anyone could do about it, so they figured they would just let it slide. I wanted to report it, but my superiors threatened me," said Tom.

"So why are you here now?" asked Darien.

"I couldn't live with myself. If I could have done something to save someone's life and I didn't then what good a doctor would I be? They trashed all the files on Sullivan almost immediately, but I was able to backlog on the cached storage buffer to pull up bits of his file. I found your names a few days ago and got here as soon as I could," said Tom.

"I appreciate what you did, Mr. Wellborn," said the Official. "Believe me, we will look into this matter and trust me when I say you don't have to worry about threats to your career. The president is going to hear about you, son."

"Thank you, sir. I'll see myself out," said Tom as he stood up. He nodded at Eberts, who was hovering in the back of the room, as he walked out the door.

"So let me get this straight, Sullivan's back," breathed Darien. "What do we do?" he asked in a panic, his breath coming in short gasps.

"First thing you got to do is ease down, man. Just relax, we're going to get through this," said Bobby as he put a comforting hand on Darien's shoulder.

"Maybe he won't even come after you," offered Eberts from the back.

"Shut up, Eberts," said Darien in irritation. He leaned down with his face in his hands and then quickly shot up, "Oh god, Katie. Katie, Claire, I have to get them," he said as he stood up too quickly. He started to sway on his feet and would have fallen flat on his face if Bobby hadn't have grabbed hold of him and forced him back down in the chair.

"Easy, just slow down," said Bobby. "Lean down and take some deep breaths," he said as he noticed Darien's face turning a ghostly shade of white.

Darien complied and put his head between his legs, breathing slowly and deeply. Bobby rubbed his back and murmured words of encouragement.

"You two ever been to Pine's Peak?" asked the Official.

Darien leaned back up, his face still too pale. "Pine's Peak? It's in the Sierras, isn't it?"

The Official nodded. "The Agency has a cabin out there. It's out in the middle of nowhere with one road and nothing but forest for fifty miles. If you want to hide out, it's yours," said the Official.

"I don't know, sir. What if Sullivan has this place bugged or something? What if he knows what we're up to?" asked Darien as he looked around the room nervously.

The Official shook his head. "No, no that's impossible. Eberts."

Eberts stepped next to the Official desk. "Ever since Mr. Sullivan broke in, I have conducted daily bug checks in this Agency. We also had cameras installed equipped with thermal sensors. Since Mr. Sullivan is not capable of masking himself for longer than a minute, there's no way he's been in this building without us knowing about it," he answered.

"See partner. You've got nothing to worry about," said Bobby sympathetically. "What do you say we get Katie and the Keep and go on a little sabbatical for a few weeks until Sullivan's caught."

Darien shook his head in protest. "Hobbes, man, I don't want you in danger. This is my battle, not yours. If he's gonna come after me and find us…"

"Don't even say it, Fawkes," interrupted Bobby. "You're my best friend and my partner, okay. Besides, your family is my family, bro. I love Katie just as much as you do. Same thing goes for Claire," he said. "We can help protect each other. All of us. With any luck, Sullivan will go nutso on someone and get caught before he even has a chance to take revenge."

"I don't think we're that lucky, my friend," said Darien.

Bobby stood up and pulled at Darien's arm. "Come on, let's go get the ladies and get out of here."

Darien reluctantly stood up and gave the Official a frightened stare. "Wish us luck," he said as he headed for the door.

"Fawkes, I'm putting every available agent on this case. We'll find Sullivan, don't worry about a thing. Just take care of your family," said the Official firmly.

Darien nodded. "Thank you, sir," he said. He glanced at Bobby. "Let's go," he said as he walked out the door.

Bobby gave the Official a look of reassurance and then followed his partner out the door.

**

"We have to get to Katie," said Darien urgently as he, Bobby and Claire finished loading the rest of their luggage into Claire's SUV.

Darien and Bobby had found Claire immediately after leaving the Official's office and informed her of Jason's escape. Needless to say, she had been absolutely terrified. They had all quickly collected some counteragent and medical supplies from the Keep and then gone home to collect some personal items, all in record time.

Darien was paranoid as hell. He continuously quicksilvered his eyes, searching for the invisible form of Jason Sullivan, but so far had been greeted with nothing but the dull, black and white spectrum of his own quicksilver vision.

"Okay, we're set," said Bobby a couple of seconds later as he closed the back of Claire's SUV. "Wanna drive, partner?" he asked as he gave Darien a small grin.

Darien shook his head. "Naw," he said quietly as he got into the back seat of the vehicle.

Bobby shrugged and got in the driver's seat, leaving Claire to ride shot gun. Bobby quickly started the car and tore off eagerly down the street.

The five minute drive to Katie's school was filled with a strange kind of silence as Bobby sped down the road. Darien was staring out the window at the scenery, but his eyes weren't seeing any of it. Claire had her own eyes squeezed shut, trying to escape any way she could from their current situation. Bobby was deceptively calm on the outside, but on the inside he was just as worried as the rest of them.

After what seemed like an eternity, but in reality was only three minutes, they arrived at Stewart Elementary.

"I'll get her," said Darien quickly as he got out of the car before Bobby even had it in park. Darien dashed through the front door of the building, colliding head on with a slightly obese older woman. "I'm sorry," he said apologetically.

"What's the rush, sir?" asked the woman curiously.

"I need to find my daughter," answered Darien as he started down a long corridor filled with classrooms.

The woman ran to catch up. "What's her name? I'm a teacher's aid. I might be able to help you."

"Katie. Katie Fawkes. I'm her dad, Darien Fawkes," said Darien hopefully.

The woman smiled. "Allison Wiles, nice to meet you Mr. Fawkes. Katie's one of our best students and such a nice little girl. I believe she's in Ms. Elwood's class," she said as she glanced down at her watch. "They should be out at recess right about now. Follow me," she said as she led him towards an exit door in the opposite direction he had been running.

Darien turned around and followed her, nonchalantly quicksilvering his eyes as they walked down the hallway. They reached the door and walked through it, revealing a playground filled with children swinging, sliding and climbing. Darien immediately spotted Katie on a swing set. "Thanks a lot, ma'am," he said to Allison as he ran to over to Katie.

Katie looked up in surprise and excitement as she saw Darien approaching her. "Daddy, what are you doing here?" she asked as she slowed her swing down.

Darien lifted her off the swing into his arms. "We've gotta go, shorty."

"What? Where are we going?" she asked as he carried her off the playground.

"A little vacation, Kates," said Darien as he walked around the side of the school towards the parking lot.

"What about my backpack?" asked Katie as she stared back at the schoolhouse.

"No time. Your mommy and I already packed you some stuff," said Darien as he once again quicksilvered his eyes.

Katie noticed immediately. "Why are you doing that scary trick with your eyes, daddy?" she asked, her voice sounding nervous and afraid.

"I'm just checking something out, nothing to worry about," he said as he dashed up to the waiting SUV and opened the back door.

"Mommy! Uncle Bobby!" said Katie excitedly as she spotted the car's passengers. As soon as Darien put her in the SUV, she crawled up to the front and gave Claire a kiss on the cheek. Then she wrapped her arms around Bobby's neck.

"How's it going, kiddo?" asked Bobby as he kissed the top of Katie's head.

"Hobbes, let's get out of here, man," said Darien impatiently as he once again scanned the area with quicksilverd eyes.

Bobby nodded and gave Katie a pat on the back. "Sit in the back with your pa, Katesy."

Katie complied and sat down next to Darien, leaning against his shoulder. Darien buckled her seatbelt and then secured his own as well. 

"Where are we going?" asked Katie as Bobby tore out of the parking lot and headed for the highway.

"We've rented a little cabin in the mountains, sweetie," answered Claire. "The weather report said it should be very cold the next couple of days. You might even get to see snow," she continued, trying to sound as casual and nonchalant as possible to avoid scaring Katie.

"Cool," said Katie in awe. She tapped Darien on the leg. "Daddy, will you show me how to ski?"

"We'll see, honey," he said as he gave Claire a hopeless glance. "Hey, Kates, what do you say we all play the silent game for awhile. Whoever wins gets a cool prize."

Katie nodded, looking somewhat hurt. "Okay," she said softly.

Darien shook his head with regret and then put his fingers under her chin, lifting it up so she was looking him in the eyes. "Hey shorty, I bet I can beat you," he said with a forced smile.

Katie's face perked up. She zipped her mouth shut with her finger and shook her head.

Darien mimicked the motion and then settled back against the seat, trying to stretch out his legs for the four hour journey that loomed ahead.

**

Five and a half hours and a several wrong turns later, they were finally pulling up to the cabin.

"Clearly Eberts need some lessons on how to give proper directions," said Bobby with irritation as he slowed to a stop and put the SUV in park.

"Either that or you could use some lessons on how to follow directions, take your pick," said Darien sarcastically as he out of the car and stretched his arms and legs.

Bobby glared at Darien, but let the comment slide. He followed Darien out of the SUV along with Katie and Claire. 

"Wow, it really is beautiful, isn't it?" said Claire as she took in the small log cabin standing before them. The cabin was surrounded by thick pine trees on the sides and a huge icy lake peaked out from the back. In the distance loomed several large mountains, all snowcapped and covered in trees at the bottoms.

Darien took in the scenery and breathed in the fresh air, glancing at the lake. "Ice fishing, anyone?" he said as neared the front door of the cabin. Bobby followed behind him and Katie and Claire tagged behind, still checking out the scenery.

Darien took out the key the Official had given him and put it in the lock, opening the door slowly. He was half-way through the door when something solid and metal connected harshly with his ribs. He gasped in pain and surprise and fell to the floor in a crumpled heap. "Hobbes," he croaked out as he quicksilvered his eyes and spotted a purple silhouette hovering over him. "It's Sullivan," he breathed in a panic.

Bobby pushed Claire and Katie back and then busted through the door with his gun drawn and cocked. "Fawkes, where is he?"

Darien pointed towards to the right as the figure ran towards a corner by the door. "He's right there in the corner, I can see him, I can see him," he said in a panic as he started to sit up.

Bobby aimed his gun at the corner, his finger poised on the trigger. "Freeze, psycho!" he yelled.

"Don't shoot, friend," came a slightly frightened voice from the direction of the corner

"Drop the see-through juice now!" yelled Bobby, moving closer to the corner.

"Right," came the voice as a stream of sparkling quicksilver cascaded off the slender body of none other than Arnaud De Phon. He put his hands in the air and then glanced down at Darien, giving him a pleasant smile. "Hello, Fawkes."

Darien stared with disbelief from Arnaud to Bobby. "Aw crap," he said as he sank back to the floor, holding his aching ribs.

TBC


	4. Part 3

DS#10 Storms of Quicksilver (3/?)

By Carol M.

See prologue for details. On with the story…

Claire peeked through the front door of the cabin, eyeing Darien's lanky form on the ground. "Darien are you all right?" she asked. "Is it safe to come in?"

Darien shrugged. "Well that depends on your point of view," he responded as he eyed Arnaud, who had been handcuffed to a chair by Bobby.

Claire opened the door, and her and Katie walked hand in hand into the cozy cabin. She looked around and noticed the cabin contained two bedrooms, one of which was a large master suite. The other was a tiny guestroom. The cabin also contained a small kitchen, a beautiful brick fireplace, a large couch, and a dining area with a table and four chairs. In the back was a large porch, which looked out onto the icy lake in the backyard.

Claire let go of Katie's hand and knelt down next to Darien, who was still lying on the floor clutching his middle. "What happened? Did he hit you?" she asked as she noticed a metal baseball bat on the floor.

"Please forgive me, I was practicing my baseball swing," said Arnaud from the chair.

Bobby gave Arnaud a whack to the head. "Can it, De Phon."

Katie walked over to Arnaud and gave him a curious look. "Who are you?" she asked.

Arnaud gave her an awkward smile. "Hello Katie. Pleasure to finally meet you."

"Kates, stay away from him," said Darien as Claire lifted up his shirt and began examining his ribs.

"Yeah, sweetie, you don't want any part of this scum, believe me," said Bobby as he led her over to the couch on the opposite side of the room.

"Is he a bad guy?" she asked Bobby.

"Ah yeah, you could say that," responded Bobby.

"Oh," said Katie, in a slightly scared tone as she glanced in Darien's direction. "Did he hurt you, daddy?"

Claire, who had been palpitating Darien's ribs, shook her head and pulled down his shirt. "Daddy's fine, he's just got a little ouchie," she responded with a quick smiling glance at Darien. She helped him off the ground and walked over to Katie, grabbing her hand. "Let's go out to the car and get some of the luggage, Katie," said Claire as she led Katie outside.

Darien gave her a grateful look and then walked over to Arnaud, taking a seat next to him. "What the hell are you doing here?" he asked.

Arnaud shrugged. "The same thing as you I suspect. Hiding out."

"From who?" asked Darien.

Arnaud rolled his eyes. "From our mutual friend Mr. Sullivan of course."

Bobby, who had been hovering over Arnaud, took a seat next to Darien. "How'd an insect like you find out about Sullivan?"

Arnaud smiled pleasantly. "I have contacts too, you know"

"What about Rendell? You leave her on her own out there?" asked Bobby.

Arnaud shrugged. "She's out of the country and out of harms way, I assure you."

"How the hell did you know about this place?" asked Darien. 

"Ah, you forget I once worked for your Agency. Kevin and I used to come up here in the days when we were planning out the steps to implant the gland," answered Arnaud.

"Where's your posse of steroid addled nitwits?" asked Darien. "You seem pretty unprepared for a guy with a psychotic freak after you."

"I don't trust them to protect me," said Arnaud. 

"Hmmm, imagine that," said Darien. He sighed and sunk deeper into his chair, running a hand across his sore ribs. 

Bobby cleared his throat. "How'd you get here? I didn't exactly see a taxi outside."

"Helicopter. What better way to avoid an invisible man that might be tailing you," said Arnaud coolly.

Darien shook his head and glanced at Bobby. "So what are we going to do about him?"

"I say we shoot him and dump him into the lake. No one will ever find him or even miss him," said Bobby.

Arnaud smiled confidently. "You won't do that."

Darien stood up and smacked Arnaud across the face. "Oh wouldn't we?"

Arnaud spit some blood onto the floor. "You need me. Sullivan will find us, you can count on that. Four against one is better than three against one."

Darien stepped face to face with Arnaud. "Here's the deal. You stay locked up to this chair. You try anything and you're gone. And if you even think of hurting Katie, I will personally see to it that you suffer the most painful death possible. Do we have a deal?"

Arnaud cocked his head to the side. "Well, it doesn't look like I have much of a choice now, does it?"

"No," said Darien, shaking his head.

They all turned their heads a moment later, when Claire entered the front door of the cabin with several suitcases in her arms. "A little help," she asked.

Darien and Bobby stepped forward and helped her lug the suitcases into the cabin. 

"You two take the big bedroom, Katie can have the guest room and I'll sleep out here with De Phon," said Bobby.

"Sounds good, partner," said Darien as he lugged Katie's luggage into her room.

Hours later, Claire and Katie were on the back porch playing Barbies while Darien and Bobby were playing cards at the kitchen table. Arnaud was still handcuffed to his chair and busied himself by staring out the window.

"He's out there right now," said Arnaud.

Darien dropped his cards and quicksilvered his eyes, scanning the windows for any signs of a psychotic invisible man. "I don't see anything," he said as he dropped the quicksilver.

"I didn't mean right outside. I just mean he's close," said Arnaud.

"Oh yeah and what makes you the expert?" asked Darien curiously as he stood up and walked over to Arnaud.

"It's just a feeling. He has to find us eventually," he said.

"Not necessarily," said Darien.

Arnaud smiled. "You keep telling yourself that. When Sullivan finds us, he's going to massacre us. All of us," he said, nodding towards Katie through the glass.

Darien stepped forward and grabbed Arnaud by the shirt. "Is there something you're not telling us?"

"No," said Arnaud. "I just know what the stage five madness is capable of."

"Yeah well, so do I," said Darien.

Arnaud shook his head. "No you don't. Not the permanent stage five madness. It changes you. It gives you power and senses you never knew you had. Sullivan's like a wild animal. Any of you want to reason with a charging lion?"

Bobby pulled out his gun and cocked it. "He can reason with this," he said.

Arnaud laughed. "You think a simple bullet's going to stop him? He'll keep coming and coming until we're dead."

"Now why does that sound like the plot of a movie?" said Darien sarcastically. "Terminator, I think it was."

"You can kid all you want, but you don't know what you're dealing with," said Arnaud. "Sullivan's going to kill all of us."

It was then that Darien noticed Katie standing in the doorway of the porch with tears streaming down her face. 

"We're going to die?" she whispered softly.

Claire instantly came up from behind her. "Katie, what did you hear?" she asked with concern.

"Damn it," said Darien under his breath as he walked over to Katie. He knelt down and took her hand in his, sneaking a quick glance up at Claire. "No sweetie, we're not going to die."

"But he said we were," she said, pointing at Arnaud. "You said we were going on vacation," she said, getting more upset by the second.

"Katie," said Claire in a soft tone.

"I wanna go home," yelled Katie as she suddenly tore past them and ran out the front door.Bobby instantly started for the door. "Katie no!" he shouted after her.

Darien stopped him with his hand. "I got her man. Just watch him," he said, nodding in Arnaud's direction. He dashed out the door and looked to his left and right, finally spotting Katie in the back near the edge of the frozen lake. "Katie wait!" he said as he dashed after her.

"I wanna go home! I wanna go home!" she cried as she began running across the lake, slipping on the ice.

"Katie stop!" yelled Darien as he ran after her.

Katie didn't listen and continued to run, nearly reaching the middle of the lake.

"Katie, get back here. Get off the ice!" shouted Darien urgently as he continued to run after her.

Katie shook her head and kept running, tears flowing down her face. A sudden loud cracking sound caused her to stop short. "Daddy," she yelled in a panic as she looked down at the ice and saw it was cracking. "Daddy help!" she cried.

Darien sprinted towards her and then skidded to a stop. "Lay down and crawl to me, Katie," he instructed as the ice began to grow more unstable.

Katie nodded her head and knelt down on the ice, all the while continuing to sob. "Daddy," she said fearfully as she started crawling towards Darien, who was about ten feet away.

"You can do it, sweetie," said Darien as he got down on his own hands and knees and started crawling towards her.

Katie crawled about two more feet and then all the ice around her suddenly started to fall away. "Daddy!" she screamed.

"Katie!" shouted Darien as he struggled to crawl towards her as fast as he could. The ice started breaking around him as well and he had to fight not to fall in the icy cold water. "Crawl to the left. The ice isn't so bad over there," he instructed as he continued to crawl in her direction.

Katie took a deep breath and did what she was told, barely avoiding falling in the water. As she crawled to her left, she reached a stronger patch of ice that wasn't cracked. Darien, on the other hand, was in the center of the cracked area and was barely staying up right. He tried to stand up and jump towards the firmer ice that Katie was on, but the piece that held his body weight suddenly split apart causing Darien to fall into the icy water.

"Daddy!" yelled Katie as she crawled back towards the center. She could see Darien's hands struggling above the water to grab something, but all the ice was breaking under his grip. After several seconds, his hands disappeared back under the water and then there was nothing but silence. Katie started sobbing even harder. She could faintly make out the form of Darien struggling under the water and then she recognized the silver of his quicksilver coating his body. Katie took a deep breath and looked back at cabin. "I'll be right back, daddy!" she shouted towards the water, hoping he had heard her.

She crawled back to the left of the ice and then stood up, tearing off towards the cabin. It only took her about thirty seconds to get off the lake and then she sprinted straight towards the front door of the cabin, quickly bashing through it. "Daddy's in the water!" she shouted urgently as Bobby, Claire and even Arnaud looked up at her in surprise.

"What do you mean he's in the water?" asked Claire with worry.

"He fell through the ice," said Katie, pointing towards the icy lake.

"Oh god," said Bobby as he ran for the door.

"Wait, uncuff him," shouted Claire as she pointed at Arnaud. "We might need him."

Bobby started to protest, but quickly shut up when he saw the determined look on Claire's face. He quickly uncuffed Arnaud and dragged him to his feet. "You try anything and you're dead, you hear me."

Arnaud nodded and then the trio followed Katie out the door.

"It's this way," said Katie as she started towards the center of the lake.

Bobby could make out the area where several chunks of ice had broken off into the water. 

"Slowly guys," said Claire as she got on her hands and knees and started crawling towards the broken icy center.

Katie started to get on her hands and knees, but Bobby quickly stopped her. "Get off the ice, kid," he said firmly as he and Arnaud also got on their hands and knees.

"But daddy…"

"Katie, get off the ice now!" yelled Bobby in a firm tone.

Katie sniffled and nodded, slowly standing up and running back towards the edge of the lake.

Claire, meanwhile, had reached the crux of the broken chunks and started to panic when she didn't spot Darien. "I don't see him!" she screamed at Bobby and Arnaud, who were rapidly approaching her from behind.

"Where the hell is he?" said Bobby in fear as he began crawling around, searching the water for his partner.

"Wait, there," said Claire as she saw quicksilver suddenly flake off underwater, revealing Darien's unconscious form. "Bobby, over here," she said as she crawled towards the edge of the ice where Darien was floating.

Bobby quickly crawled over and looked at Arnaud. "Help me get him out," he said firmly as the Swiss man crawled next to him.

Arnaud rolled his eyes and then stuck his arms in the water at the same time as Bobby, both reaching for Darien. They pulled him to the edge and then dragged him up onto the ice.

"Keep him level," said Claire as she checked his neck for a pulse. "Pulse is very faint," she said in a panic as she checked his airways. "He's not breathing. We need to do mouth to mouth."

"Let's get off the ice first," suggested Bobby as the ice around them began to crack. He and Arnaud quickly began dragging Darien off the ice. Claire followed closely behind, nearly falling into the lake herself on more then one occasion. 

After several minutes filled with loud cursing, Bobby and Arnaud finally managed to drag Darien off the ice. They quickly laid him out flat and Claire and Bobby started performing mouth to mouth resuscitation on his lifeless body.

Katie stepped next to them and started to cry as she watched Bobby continually pump on Darien's chest with no result.

Arnaud watched Bobby and Claire attend to Darien with slight amusement. He noticed Katie's sniffling and then stepped next to her unconsciously, putting his hand on her shoulder. "Your…father is…strong. He'll be okay," he said awkwardly.

Katie pressed her face into Arnaud's hip and wrapped her arms around him.

He grumbled in slight annoyance and wrapped his arms loosely around her as the pair continued to watch the scene before them.

"Breathe you son of a bitch! Breathe!" shouted Bobby to Darien as he continued to pump his chest.

"Darien, come on, breathe for us," said Claire, fighting tears as she blew into his mouth once again.

Finally, after what seemed like hours, Darien coughed up the lake water that had invaded his lungs. He moaned weakly and his body started to shiver violently. "Oh thank god," said Claire as she swept the wet hair off his face and kissed his forehead. "Let's get him inside and warm him up," she said.

Bobby picked up Darien by the armpits. "Get his legs, Arnie," he said forcefully.

Arnaud picked up Darien's legs and they quickly carried him back towards the cabin. Claire ran beside them, trying to assess his condition, while Katie trailed behind, still sniffling. Once they were back inside, Bobby and Arnaud quickly carried Darien into his bedroom and lay him down on the bed. 

Claire quickly got on the bed next to Darien. "We have to get these wet clothes off him," she said as she removed Darien's jacket and shirt. She removed his pants and then wrapped the comforter around him, trying to ignore the tremors shaking his lean body. She reached under the blanket and removed his underwear as well. 

While Claire had been removing Darien's clothes, Arnaud had backed away towards the door, while Katie had huddled in the corner, crying softly. 

Bobby had stepped next to the bed, eyeing his partner with concern. "What do you want me to do?" he asked, looking at her for instruction.

"Take off your shirt and pants," she said as she began stripping off her own clothes.

"What?" asked Bobby in surprise as Claire stripped down to a bra and underwear.

"Body heat is the best way to warm him up. We need to lay next to him," she said as she quickly crawled under the covers with Darien and nestled him into her arms, rubbing his chest and arms gently with her hands.

"I don't know about this, Keep," said Bobby, as he stripped down to his boxers and undershirt. "He's naked as a jaybird under there," he pointed out with a slightly embarrassed look on his face.

"Bloody hell, Bobby. Just get under here," said Claire in irritation.

Bobby inhaled sharply and then exhaled. "Okay," he said hesitantly as he crawled into bed with Claire and his partner. He tentatively cuddled next to Darien, rubbing his frozen back and arms.

Arnaud took advantage of the distraction and started for the door.

"Don't even think it, Arnie," said Bobby.

"I was just going to look for some extra blankets," said Arnaud.

"Sure you were," said Bobby sarcastically as he continued to rub his hands on Darien's shivering body.

"I think he's starting to warm up," said Claire a few minutes later as she brought Darien fully into her arms. His shivering had died down considerably. "Darien, can you hear me?" she asked as she ran a hand over his forehead.

"Hmmm," moaned Darien in reply.

"He needs to rest and warm up," said Claire as she continued to rub his back and chest. "The cold water shocked the hell out of his system."

Bobby got out of the bed and retrieved his clothes. He glared at Arnaud, who was watching him with amusement. "What are you looking at, you Swiss freak?"

"Oh I was just thinking how interesting it was to see the lengths you'd go to save your partner," said Arnaud.

"You don't know the half of it, pal," said Bobby. "Get back out there," he said, motioning towards the door.

"Wait…Arnaud," said Claire suddenly. "Thanks," she said, nearly choking on the words.

"Oh you're quite welcome doctor," said Arnaud smugly as he headed out the door in front of Bobby.

Katie, who was still standing in the corner, sheepishly stepped next to the bed. "Is daddy okay?" she asked.

Claire wrapped the blanket tightly around Darien and then moved her hand to Katie's face, wiping at her tears. "Yeah, he's okay, sweetheart," she said in a calming voice. "Just let me get him dressed and you can come and sit with him if you want, okay?"

Katie nodded her head and slowly walked out the door, tears still trickling down her cheeks.

TBC


	5. Part 4

DS #10 Storms of Quicksilver

By Carol M.

See prologue for details. Enjoy kids!

There were three things Darien noticed when he first regained consciousness. One was that he was absolutely freezing. Every part of his body seemed to ache with a cold that was set deep in his bones, making him want to curl up in a thick blanket and shiver for the rest of the day. The second thing he noticed was a nasty ache in his chest that felt like he had been kicked repeatedly by someone wearing steel-toed boots. This too made him want to curt up in a ball and feel sorry for himself. The third thing that pierced his senses was the soft sounds of sniffling coming from somewhere below him.

Darien opened his eyes and curiously peered down his torso, seeking the source of the tears. It was then that he saw his daughter wrapped around his waist, her chest heaving slightly as she cried. "Katie," he croaked in a concerned tone.

Katie looked up, her brown eyes filled with tears. "Daddy?" she said.

"What's going on?" he asked gently. "Why are you crying?"

"Cuz I nearly turned you into an ice cube," she said as she started to cry again. She put her head back down and rested it against his stomach, her tears soaking through the thermal shirt Claire had put on him.

"Kates," said Darien as he reached down and ran a hand through her long hair. He reached down to her side and began to tickle her lightly.

"Ahhh," she yelped in surprise. "Daddy, what are you doing?" she asked, the trace of a smile on her face.

Darien chuckled. "Trying to make you smile," he said.

Katie sat up and crawled to the pillow beside him, sitting next to his head. She peered down at him and shook her head sadly. "Why would you want me to smile? You hate me. I nearly killed you," she said as the tears started to return.

Darien crinkled his forehead in confusion and struggled to sit up. "Why on earth would I hate you?" he asked. "Katie, it was an accident. That means it wasn't your fault."

"Yeah, but you could've died," said Katie, her face a wash of guilt and sadness.

"But Katie, I didn't, okay. Come on, you know me. You know how often I get injured. It's just a part of my charm. It was inevitable that I would fall in the lake. I'm just glad I got it over with early," said Darien with a teasing smile. 

Katie tried to stifle a giggle. "You are kind of accident prone."

Darien nodded. "See, you know what I'm talking about. So I don't want you getting all upset about this, okay."

Katie nodded. "Okay," she said with a small smile.

"And Kates," said Darien.

"Yeah, daddy?" asked Katie.

"I could never hate you. No matter what. Just remember that," said Darien. "I love you, sweetie and that'll never change. Ever."

Katie's smile grew. "I love you too," she said as she leaned down and kissed him on the cheek.

"And look, I don't want you worrying about all the stuff going on. You're going to be just fine. Let Daddy and Uncle Bobby handle things," said Darien. " And I'm sorry about the spelling bee," he added apologetically.

Katie shrugged. "It's okay. I already know I would've won," she said with confidence. 

"That's my girl," said Darien as he gave her a pat on the back. "Now go get your mom for me and then I want you in bed," he said after he had glanced out the window and realized how dark it was. "You need to get some rest."

Katie nodded. "Night daddy," she said as she blew him a kiss and walked out the door.

Darien sighed and then lay back down in the bed, wrapping the blanket that had been draped over him tightly around his body. 

Claire entered the room a second later and sat down on the bed next to him, taking his hand in hers. "How you feeling?" she asked, her eyes weary with fear and exhaustion.

Darien gave her a small smile. "I'm cold," he whispered.

Claire laughed. "Of course you are," she said as she leaned down and placed a gentle kiss on his lips. "We almost lost you."

Darien nodded. "I heard," he said. "Do you think Katie's going to be okay? She seemed kind of freaked out by everything."

Claire smiled knowingly. "She just needed to be reassured by her daddy. She's been sitting with you for the last three hours."

Darien bit his lower lip. "Are we going to get through this thing?" he asked.

"Don't we always," came the voice of Bobby from the doorway.

"Hobbes, what's up man?" asked Darien.

"Not you, that's for sure," said Bobby as he stepped closer to the bed. "You had us all real worried. Even Arnie seemed a little choked up."

"Yeah I'm sure he was really torn up about it," said Darien sarcastically. "You got him under control?"

Bobby nodded. "Oh yeah, I got the little weasel cuffed to the chair. We're going to be playing lookout for ole' silver eyes."

"Sounds good, man," he said. He looked up at Bobby and Claire with an appreciative look on his face. "Thanks for saving my butt once again, guys."

Claire smiled. "Don't worry, we're used to it," she said, glancing at Bobby. "And I also would like to commend Bobby for a job well done. He really went above and beyond the call of duty."

Bobby gave her an embarrassed glance. "What do you mean above and beyond? As I recall, you pretty much forced me to do it."

"Do what?" asked Darien.

Bobby shook his head. "Nothing, nothing at all."

Darien glanced at Claire with a raised eyebrow. "What's going on?"

Claire laughed and shook her head. "Nothing."

"Uh huh," said Darien, not believing her. He shook his head and yawned. "Whatever, kids. I'm freezing and tired, and I want someone to cuddle with," he said, gazing expectantly at Claire.

Claire gave Bobby an amused glance and then climbed into bed next to Darien. "Goodnight, Bobby," she said in a pleasant tone. 

"Night guys," said Bobby as he started for the door.

"Bobby," said Claire.

Bobby turned around curiously. "Yeah Keep?"

"Thanks," she said sincerely.

Bobby blushed and smiled. "Not a problem. Get some rest guys," he said as he walked out of the room and shut the door behind him.

"What was that all about?" asked Darien as he wrapped his arms tightly around Claire.

"I tell you about it another day," said Claire as she buried her head against Darien's chest and inhaled his musky scent. "Go to sleep, Gilligan."

"Aye, aye, Mrs. Howell," said Darien tiredly as he closed his eyes and sunk back into his pillow. Within seconds, he was fast asleep.

Claire glanced up at him and watched him sleep for several minutes, taking in the steady rise and fall of his chest and the soft snores that escaped through his lips. She was terrified for him, although she was doing her best to hide it. She placed a kiss to his heart and then settled her head back down against him, loving the feel of his arms around her. 

That was the thing about her husband. Ever since they had slept together for the first time seven years ago, Darien would hold her so tightly that sometimes she couldn't breath. And she loved it. She loved the feeling of him around her, and she loved the fact that she had given him something to hold…something to love. It was want he needed and she was only too happy to provide it for him.

Claire placed one more kiss to Darien's heart and then let the soft sounds of his breathing lull her to sleep, despite the fear that was racing through her veins. That could wait until morning.

Which was exactly why Jason decided to make his move at night. Totally unexpected, totally unprepared, absolutely perfect.

Things had worked out quite well for Jason Sullivan ever since his escape from the hospital three weeks before. He had traveled down south almost immediately and quickly reacquainted himself with Darien Fawkes and Arnaud De Phon. And they hadn't even known it. 

He had visited Darien first. Tailed him on every case, every errand and every family outing. All invisibly of course. Darien and the rest of them had had no clue. It was enjoyable knowing that they had no idea he was there. He saw things that he was certain he had no business seeing like tender moments between husband and wife. He knew it wouldn't last. It was only a matter of time before they found out about him and then their peaceful little existence would be shattered. He had waited six years to take his revenge; he could wait another couple of weeks.

After about two weeks of watching Darien, Jason had made his way down to Arnie's hacienda and seen firsthand how Arnaud made his business dealings with prospective recipients of glands. That was when Jason decided to start his little plan. He had destroyed all the glands that Arnaud and Dr. Rendell had created and he also destroyed all the research. That was when Arnaud figured out what was going on and quickly fled the area.

That was okay, though. Jason had watched Arnaud fly away in his helicopter and waited patiently for nearly a day until it returned to the helipad. When it finally touched down again, Jason had simply stuck a gun in the pilot's face and asked for Arnaud's location. The pilot, who was faced with nothing more than a gun pointing at him from thin air, quickly gave up the information.

So Jason had traveled to the Sierras to a pretty little cabin in the middle of nowhere. By sheer luck, he had found an abandoned cabin about five miles away from Arnaud's location. He had quickly gotten in the routine of sleeping during the day and watching at night, all without Arnaud's knowledge. The poor Swiss man thought he was safe. Boy was he wrong about that.

Jason had been ready to kill Arnaud the day Darien arrived at the cabin. In fact, he had been busy collecting the various weapons he was going to use to torture Arnaud when he saw Darien pull up to the cabin. He had quickly hidden in the forest, not wanting to be detected by Darien's quicksilvered eyes. Jason couldn't believe his good luck. He hadn't planned on getting them all together, but now that they were all here, he couldn't pass up the opportunity. 

So he had stayed hidden in the forest for the rest of the day with binoculars in hand watching the dramas of the cabin unfold. He had watched Claire play Barbies with her daughter on the porch, listened to Arnaud explain to Darien the ups and downs of being in permanent stage five madness and had also watched Darien plunge headfirst into the icy lake. Then he had watched the group struggle to save his worthless life. And now, as the night turned darker, he watched as the respective family went to bed. Jason was ready to put a new plan into action.

He had two aces on his side that night and their names were Bobby Hobbes and Arnaud De Phon. Bobby had been the one to make the six hour drive to the cabin. Coupled with the lake incident and the general stress of the whole situation, Bobby was completed exhausted. As hard as he tried to keep his eyes open, they just weren't cooperating. So about an hour after he had said goodnight to Darien and Claire, Bobby had drifted to sleep on the couch, still clutching a pair of thermal goggles in his hand.

Arnaud, who was cuffed in a nearby chair, had taken advantage of the opportunity and tried to get away. He had quicksilvered the cuffs as soon as he heard the first sound of snores coming from Bobby's direction and tried to crack the cuffs. But it hadn't worked. Apparently the cuffs were specially formed to withstand manipulation from freezing temperatures, which was good for Bobby when his partner went quicksilver mad, but was very bad for Arnaud. He briefly considered trying to break the chair and make a run for it, but he realized that even though Bobby was asleep, his years of training would no doubt make him a light sleeper. So Arnaud had decided to give up for the night and keep watch for an invisible man. But a half-hour later, he too was fast asleep in his chair.

This was when Jason decided to make his move. He crept up to the cabin and pulled out a small knife, slashing all the tires of the SUV parked in the front. Then he made his way around the cabin and quietly made his way onto the porch in the back. He poured a stream of quicksilver into the lock and it quickly cracked, allowing him to open the door. He made his way into the cabin and paused briefly in the living room, listening in amusement as Bobby and Arnaud sawed logs. Then crept down the hall, taking care not to make any noise. He got to the door to the master bedroom and slowly opened it, ready to pounce on anything that might be waiting on the other side. But the only sight that greeted him was Darien and Claire snuggled in one another's arms fast asleep. He gave them a wicked smile and then stepped out of the room, closing the door quietly behind him. 

He started down the hall again, this time heading for the guest bedroom. When he got to the door, he carefully opened it and peered in, seeing Katie fast asleep in her bed clutching a worn stuffed bunny. He padded into the room and stepped right next to her bed, staring down at her. Katie chose that moment to stir and Jason made his move. He unquicksilvered just his silver eyes and clamped a hand over her mouth before she could scream. "You make a sound and I'll kill your mommy and daddy," he said in a menacing voice.

Tears instantly started pouring from Katie's eyes and she started taking panicky breaths.

"Shut up, little girl," said Jason as he grabbed her hand and got her out bed. "We're going on a little field trip," he said as he took his other hand and made from what Katie could see, a random design of quicksilver on her bed. Then he started to pull her towards the door. She shook her head firmly and tried to shrug out of his grip, but he was too strong for her. He picked her up effortlessly and carried her out of the room, his hand still clamped on her mouth. Seconds later, Katie tried to bite at the invisible flesh over her mouth, but all she succeeded in doing was giving her mouth freezer burn. She started to struggled wildly as they passed by Darien and Claire's room and then Bobby and Arnaud, but the movement and sounds were too quiet for anyone to hear. Jason quickly led her out the door he had come in through and the pair disappeared into the dark of the night.

**

"Would you please shut up you muttering oaf!" came the voice of Arnaud from somewhere in the background of Bobby's mind. He cracked his eyes open and realized that light was streaming through the cabin. 

"What the hell?" said Bobby as he jumped awake. He gave Arnaud an angry stare. "Why didn't you wake me up, you bastard? We were supposed to keep watch for Sullivan," he said in anger as he got up from the couch and pounded on Darien and Claire's door. "Fawkes, Keep, you guys up?" he yelled. He shrugged his shoulders awkwardly and opened the door, seeing Darien and Claire in bed just waking up. "You guys okay?" he asked.

Claire gave him a confused bleary eyed stare. "Huh?" she asked in a sleepy voice.

"I must have fallen asleep," said Bobby apologetically.

Darien sat up in the bed, wiping the sleep out of his eyes. "Did you check Katie?"

Without a word, Bobby left the room and knocked on the second door. "Katie, sweets, you up honey?" No answer. "Katie, it's Uncle Bobby, wake up," he said as he pushed opened the door. It took a second for him to register what he saw and when it finally did, he nearly passed out. "Aw crap," he whispered in a shaky voice.

"Hobbes?" he heard Darien call from the other room.

Bobby was in too much shock to answer him.

"Hobbes man, what's going on?" asked Darien as he staggered into the room next to Bobby. "What the fu…" Darien trailed off as his mouth dropped to the floor in shock and fear.

"Darien, Bobby," yelled Claire worriedly as she stepped into the room next to them. "Oh dear god," she said as she finally saw what had caused them to clam up. Katie's bed was empty except for her stuffed bunny and three words that had been etched on the bed in quicksilver: Come Get Her.

TBC 


	6. Part 5

DS #10 Storms of Quicksilver (5/?)

By Carol M.

See prologue for details. Enjoy it, folks!

"Darien," said Claire in a frightened tone as she started to sway on her feet. 

"Whoa, Keep," said Bobby as he put his arms out to steady her. "Let's get you on the couch," he said as he led her out of Katie's room and into the living room.

Darien didn't acknowledge Claire's near faint. Instead, he continued to stand in shocked silence, staring at the quicksilvered words on Katie's bed. 

After Bobby had gotten Claire settled, he hustled back into Katie's room and stepped behind Darien, not sure what he should do. "Fawkes?" he said in an uncertain tone.

Darien ignored Bobby and stepped towards Katie's bed, picking up her stuffed bunny. He hugged it to his chest and inhaled its scent, seemingly in some kind of a trance.

"Fawkes?" said Bobby again as he stepped forward and put a supportive hand on his partner's back. "I'm sorry, partner, this is all my fault. I should have seen it coming…I should have…"

"Stop," interrupted Darien.

"Fawkes, I'm sorry," continued Bobby

Darien turned around and gave Bobby an angry glare. "Would you please just stop?"

Bobby nodded silently.

"We have to get her back," said Darien in a zombie-like tone as he stepped past Bobby and walked out the door.

Bobby was right behind him, just as eager as Darien to get Katie back. 

Darien marched past Claire's sobbing form on the couch and headed straight for Arnaud. 

Arnaud saw the look of anger in Darien's eyes and quickly tried to do something to get away. He started pulling at his handcuffs, but nothing would budge. "Whoa, whoa, Fawkes," he yelled out in terror.

Darien ignored him and threw Arnaud on the ground along with the chair. The chair smashed into a million pieces and cut Arnaud's arm in several places. Darien didn't seem to notice. He picked Arnaud off the ground and smashed him against the wall, his breath coming in harsh, angry pants. "Did you have anything to do with this?" he screamed in anger.

Arnaud shook his head. "No," he replied simply.

Darien smiled pleasantly and looked back at Bobby. "No," he said as he turned back to face Arnaud and punched Arnaud in the stomach. "Somehow I don't believe you," he said as he punched Arnaud in the face.

Arnaud spit blood from his mouth and took a deep breath. "I swear it, Fawkes, I didn't know, you have my word."

"Oh yeah, you're word really means a lot to me," said Darien as he started to pound on Arnaud.

"Fawkes," yelled Bobby as he came up behind him and pulled him off the semi-conscious Swiss man. "We're wasting time. We can take care of this douche later," he said, nodding at Arnaud's bloody form.

Darien shrugged out of his grip and took a deep breath, nodding slowly. 

"Darien," said Claire tearfully from the couch.

Darien turned around and looked at her, hating the look of pain on her face. He stepped towards her and sank down in the couch next to her, fighting tears of his own. The couple embraced for several seconds, both taking comfort in the warm body of the other. "We'll get her back," said Darien hoarsely as he parted from the embrace and stood up.

Claire grabbed his hand and looked deep into his eyes, nodding slightly. "I know," she said as she turned his wrist to look at his tattoo. Seven segments red, three segments green. "You need a shot," she said as she too stood up and headed into their bedroom.

Darien sat back down in the couch and took a deep breath, blowing it out harshly.

"Fawkes?" said Bobby in a questioning tone, not sure how to approach his partner.

Darien put his hand up to stop him. "Hobbes, I'm sorry man. None of this is your fault. I don't mean to be such a bastard."

"You got every right to be," said Bobby as he sat down on the couch next to Darien. "Looks like Arnie took the brunt of your anger," he said in slight amusement as he glanced at Arnaud's unconscious form on the floor.

Darien smiled slightly in response.

"Here it is," said Claire as she emerged from the bedroom holding a syringe of the blue stuff. She knelt down next to Darien and tapped a vein, then expertly ejected the contents into Darien's arm. 

Darien sighed and closed his eyes for a moment, letting the counteragent do its thing and calm him done a bit. After a moment, he opened his eyes and gave Claire a small reassuring smile. He leaned down and pressed a delicate kiss against her lips and then stood up, heading towards the door.

"Whoa, whoa, hold up, Fawkes," said Bobby as he scurried after him.

"Hobbes, not now," said Darien in irritation as he opened the door.

"No, you aren't doing what you think you're doing, my friend. You ain't taking this scum down alone," said Bobby.

"I don't think I have much of a choice," said Darien as he suddenly quicksilvered and ran out the door.

"Damn it, Fawkes," yelled Bobby in frustration as he searched the cabin for the thermal goggles. When he finally located them, he fastened them securely around his eyes and dashed out the door, looking for any sign of Darien. Five minutes and a lot of cursing later, Bobby returned to the cabin. He gave Claire a frustrated shake of the head. "He split. No sign of him out there," said Bobby as he sank down into the couch. "Sullivan slashed the tires of the SUV, which means we're pretty much stuck here."

Claire plopped down on the couch next to him and put her head in her hands. "What are we going to do, Bobby?"

Bobby rubbed her back in a comforting gesture and then pulled out his cell phone. "We're gonna call for a little back up," was his reply as he quickly dialed the phone.

**

"Isn't there anyone else you could send out?" asked Alex as she glanced over at Eberts' eager face.

The Official shook his head. "You two are the only agents here. You're going to the cabin and getting Fawkes, Hobbes and Claire the hell out of there."

Alex leaned forward in her seat. "What about Sullivan? What's his place in all of this?"

"Sullivan is up there with them. He kidnapped Katie," he said grimly.

"He kidnapped Katie?" said Eberts in a tone of both surprise and terror.

"That's right," said the Official. "Fawkes went ballistic on Arnaud and then…"

"Wait a minute, Arnaud? Where did he come from?" asked Alex.

The Official shrugged. "Apparently he was at the cabin when they got there. Anyway, Fawkes beat the hell out of Arnaud and then went to get Katie back on his own. Claire's SUV is undrivable, which means they're all stuck up there with a psycho, a Swiss man and a lot of snow."

"Snow?" said Eberts.

"Oh yes, that's the best part of this whole thing, kids. Forecast calls for a blizzard in their area tonight," said the Official with an amused smile.

"Great," said Alex.

"Now go fire up the company Hummer and bring our people home," said the Official. "And bring Sullivan and De Phon back in chains."

"Yes sir," said Eberts excitedly as he stood up and gave Alex a large smile.

Alex glanced at Eberts and then back at the Official. "This is gonna be a long day."

**

"Um, sir, I have to go to the bathroom," said Katie in an uneasy voice as she looked around the small cabin she had been sitting in for the last six hours. The cabin consisted of one small room with a fireplace and a few pieces of furniture scattered about. The only part of Jason that Katie had seen was his spooky silver eyes. She knew she would be having nightmares for months if she was rescued from the crazy man.

She heard an angry sigh come from a couch on the opposite side of the room. "Hold it," came a voice from thin air.

Katie shook her head and fought back tears. "Sir, I've been holding it. I can't anymore. I'm gonna pee my pants."

"Fine," he yelled as she felt a cold wind come up behind her. She was quickly untied from the chair and led to a door near the couch. She was shoved in the room and the door closed quickly behind her. Katie felt for a light and switched it on, and then began waving her hands through the air to see if Jason was inside with her. She breathed a small sigh of relief when she realized she was alone. She quickly got on the toilet and did her business. When she was done, she began looking around the bathroom to see what she could find. She opened up the medicine cabinet and saw a small razor. She took the razor and shoved it inside her pajamas just as the door was opened and she was snatched back out of the bathroom.

"Time's up, little girl," said Jason as he led her back to her chair. He quickly secured the ropes again and Katie heard him plop back down on the couch.

Katie looked around the cabin, her gaze falling on the place she thought Jason was sitting. "Sir, can I ask you a question?"

"Don't call me sir," said Jason.

Katie shrugged. "Well what should I call you?"

"Jeremy," answered Jason.

"Oh," said Katie. "Well Jeremy, can I ask you a question?"

Jason shrugged even though Katie couldn't see it. "What?"

"Why are you after my daddy?" she asked.

She heard Jason start to laugh maniacally. "You're daddy was once a very bad bad boy. I'm here to give him his punishment."

Katie shook her head. "I don't believe you. My daddy is the nicest person I know."

"Katie, do you ever wish you had a brother or a sister?" asked Jeremy.

Katie nodded. "All the time."

"Well imagine if you did have a brother or a sister. And let's say someone hurt them so badly that you couldn't see them anymore. Wouldn't you be mad at the person?" asked Jason.

"I guess," answered Katie.

"Well see, that's what happened with me and your bastard of a father. He hurt someone I love and now I can't see them anymore," said Jason in an angry tone.

"I don't believe you," said Katie.

"Believe it, you little bitch," said Jason as he stood up from the couch and walked over to Katie. "You know, I was going to kill you in front of your father, but maybe I'll just get it over with now."

Katie started to cry. "No, please, please, please. Don't hurt me, don't hurt me."

Jason interrupted her with a harsh slap across the face that she didn't have any way of seeing coming. "Shut up."

Katie couldn't help herself and started to cry even harder.

Jason was about to slap her again when he heard a distant shout from somewhere outside the cabin. "Katie!" he heard the voice of Darien yell.

Jason unquicksilverd his silver eyes and looked Katie in the eyes. "Looks like daddy came to the rescue," he said as he pulled a piece of cloth out of his pocket and stuffed it in her mouth despite her protests. Then he requicksilvered his eyes and cautiously walked out of the cabin.

**

"Fawkes!" yelled Bobby into the forest. "Come out, Fawkes."

"Darien," yelled Claire. "Katie! Where are you?"

"Let's go Arnie," said Bobby as he dragged Arnaud down a small narrow path. Bobby had cuffed Arnaud to himself and the trio had been searching for any signs of Darien and Katie since Darien had rushed out of the cabin.

"It's no use, Bobby, there's nothing," said Claire in frustration as she followed Bobby and Arnaud down the path.

"Get out while you can. He's going to kill them both," said Arnaud smugly.

Bobby turned to his side and punched Arnaud as hard as he could. "You say something like that again and I'll kill _you, _you Swiss Miss Mother fu…"

"Bobby stop," interrupted Claire in an upset tone. She looked out into the myriad of trees and started calling out again. "Darien! Katie!"

Bobby took a deep breath and continued down the path, dragging Arnaud with him. "Fawkes, when I find you, I'm going to kick your skinny punk ass!" he yelled in anger into the forest.

"Bobby," said Claire in a tone that was anything but good.

"What?" said Bobby as he continued to drag Arnaud along the path.

"I think it's going to snow," said Claire as she pointed up at the gray sky.

Bobby stopped short and looked up, cursing under his breath. "I didn't even notice. It's gotten freakin freezing out here."

"I know," said Claire.

"Let's keep going," said Bobby as he nodded his head down the path.

Claire agreed and once again began to follow Bobby and Arnaud.

**

"Katie!" yelled Darien. "Sweetie, if you can hear me, yell! Please honey!"

Darien had been searching the area for hours and had no idea where he was. He had absently followed every footprint he could find, hoping that it would somehow lead him to his daughter. "Katie!" he yelled once again. He pulled his jacket tighter across his lanky frame and shivered. He could smell the snow coming in the air. "Katie!" His voice echoed out into the forest, but other than that he got no reply.

He sank down to the ground in despair, resting his back against a huge tree. He put his face in his hands and started to break down, cursing Jason, Arnaud and every other person he could possibly blame for this mess. He felt like an idiot for not letting Bobby go with him and now he was completely and totally lost. He cried for several minutes until he finally pulled himself back together. "Come on, Fawkes, you can do this," he said as he stood up, noticing a clearing and a small cabin several hundred yards away. "Worth a try," he whispered to himself as he started walking towards it.

"Katie! Katie, it's your daddy, can you hear me?" screamed Darien as he neared the cabin. "Katie!" He quicksilvered his eyes and began looking around for any signs of Jason. When he didn't see anything, he quickly walked up to the cabin and looked through the window. His breath caught in his chest when he saw Katie gagged and tied to a chair. "Kates," he whispered as he quicksilvered his eyes and checked the cabin for Sullivan. All clear. He knocked on the window and got Katie's attention. "I'm gonna get you out, sweetie," he yelled through the glass.

He was about to step towards the door when he felt a piece of metal wire cutting into his throat, cutting off all his air. "Nice to see you again, Fawkesy," he heard a voice whisper from behind him as an invisible hand wrapped around his chest, aggravating his injured rib. 

"Sulli…" Darien's voice was choked off as Jason pulled the wire tighter against his throat.

"Now, now, we can talk later," said Jason as he started to drag Darien towards the cabin.

Darien fought against the wire and the hand around his chest, but Jason was just too strong. He began seeing stars and his chest started to feel tight and achy. "I'm sorry, Katie," he whispered just before he passed out.

TBC


	7. Part 6

DS #10 Storms of Quicksilver (6/?)

By Carol M.

See prologue for details

Note: Several ramblings actually. First, the Vinny note. I don't know about you, but I took it as a very good sign. Me thinks Vinny might know something that we don't. I just found it interesting that the star of the show was still encouraging us, despite the pilot he shot for ABC. Maybe it's just wishful thinking, but for this late in the game I seriously doubt it. Something is up. Or maybe I'm just a fool (which is entirely possible.) Second, all the stuff that's been going between VS3 and the fan fic list. I say, let's just continue to write, no matter in what form. We're all friends here and I'd hate to see something like this come between us. And P.S., Alyx, if you don't post part 9 of Divided Loyalties soon, I'm going to send Jason Sullivan after you! Last but not least, I graduate from college tomorrow and spent the whole day cleaning up and packing my crap (and there was a lot of crap!) So right now, I'm tired, my back hurts and I have to get up early and strut my stuff on stage in front of thousands of people (ahhhhhh!). So to take my mind off all the madness of late, I watched MFN and then finished up this part. And it helped. I think that's what it all comes down to. For me, I-man was always about escape. No matter what happened, it was always there for me and it still is. This is supposed to be fun and great and all that stuff. I think at the end of the day that's all the matters. We all love the show and we always will. No one can ever take that away from us, no matter what happens. Okay, wow, I've gotten deep on this Friday evening. I'll shut up now so you can get on to the Darien torture (eg!) Enjoy!

Darien fought himself awake and when he finally opened his eyes, he really wished he hadn't. He was lying on his stomach on the floor of Jason's cabin, his hands secured with handcuffs behind his back. To his left, sat his daughter, still gagged and tied to the chair. When she saw that he was awake, she immediately tried to speak. 

"Daddy," she said in a muffled voice that was hard to understand.

"Swe…" Darien tried to talk, but all that would come out was a scatchy whisper. That was when he noticed the ache in his throat and the wetness that had soaked the collar of his shirt. He looked down and saw that the top of his shirt was dripped with dots of blood.

"Hurts, doesn't it, Fawkes," came a voice out of thin air. Darien quicksilvered his eyes and saw the blue sparkling form of Jason standing over him. 

"Let her go," said Darien, putting as much menace into the shallow whisper as possible.

Jason responded by kicking Darien in the side, forcing him over onto his back. "I'm sorry, what was that?"

Darien gritted his teeth against the pain. "Let her go," he breathed.

Jason unquicksilvered his lips for a moment and curled them into a smile. "I don't think so," he said as they disappeared once again.

Darien sighed. "Look, would just pick a side. Either you're invisible or your not," he whispered sarcastically.

"What do you care?" asked Jason as he stomped his foot down on Darien's chest.

"Daddy," shrieked Katie from her chair.

"Shut up," said Jason as he stepped over to her and whacked her upside the head.

"You son of a bitch," croaked Darien as he quicksilvered the rest of his body and picked himself off the ground. He threw himself at Jason, causing them both to crash harshly against the floor.

"Daddy," whispered Katie as she thumbed for the razor in her pajamas. She got a firm hold on it and worked it out of her pants, bringing it up flush against the ropes. She slowly started to saw her way through the ropes.

Meanwhile, Jason had gained the upper hand on Darien. He pushed the weaker man off of him and started to pummel him with his foot, kicking him repeatedly in the stomach, groin and back. Darien flipped himself to try and get away, but it was useless with his hands secured behind his back.

"I'm gonna kill you, you bastard. And then I'm gonna kill your whole family!" yelled Jason as he kicked Darien in the throat.

Darien groaned and fought to remain conscious as waves of intense white-hot pain lanced through his throat into his chest. He started to pull at the handcuffs, hoping to freeze them off his hands, but they wouldn't budge. He began kicking out at Jason, placing a particularly powerful blow to Jason's groin.

Jason howled and backed away for a moment, giving Darien time to use the quicksilver to slip his hands out of the cuffs. 

This time as Jason dived towards him, Darien was ready. He put his hands out and captured Jason's neck in a chokehold, trying to knock him out. 

Jason was too quick for him, however, and kicked at Darien's knee, forcing Darien to let go of his neck. Jason then pushed Darien against the wall and began pummeling him with his fists without giving Darien a chance to recover.

In the chair, Katie had almost gotten herself loose from the ropes. She could hear the struggle the men were having but couldn't actually see it. Just a few more seconds and she would be loose.

"I hate you!" screamed Jason as he put Darien in a chokehold of his own.

Darien wheezed, unable to get any air into his lungs, his body weak and aching. "Screw you," he coughed as he whacked Jason in the kidneys with his fist. Jason went down for a moment and Darien looked to his side and saw Katie free from the chair. Darien reached out to her and spread quicksilver over her body. "Run!" he choked out just as Jason surprised him with a series of punches that nearly succeeded in breaking his jaw.

"Don't hurt my daddy!" yelled Katie as she scooted behind Jason and stabbed her razor into his back.

Jason turned around in a fury and tried to go after her, but Katie began running around in circles, the sparkling red glow of her own quicksilver coating making it hard for Jason to see her.

Darien, however, could see them both and nearly had a heart attack when he saw Katie trip and fall to the ground. Jason was right behind her and about to clobber her with his fists. Pure adrenaline took over and Darien was off his feet. He dived with enough force into Jason to smash them both through a large window behind them. They both landed harshly on the cold ground outside surrounded by glass and Darien's quicksilver, which hadn't survived the fall.

Darien had taken the brunt of the damage and was covered in bloody cuts and harsh scrapes. He had also managed to break several bones in the fall. Coupled with his injuries from before, Darien was done for and Jason quickly realized it.

"Looks like I won, Fawkes," said Jason, standing over Darien's panting and moaning form.

Darien tried to lunge up at Jason, but he lacked the strength to move.

Jason kneeled down next to Darien and unquicksilvered his eyes, staring Darien in the face. "What do you say I leave you here while I go kill you're wife, you're partner and that Swiss bastard. Let you lay here and wonder what I'm doing to them. Then I'll come back here and do you and the kid. Sound like a plan?" asked Jason as he placed a hard kick to Darien' ribs.

Darien coughed blood and moaned. "No," he groaned out.

"Too bad," said Jason as his eyes disappeared. "I'll be back soon. Don't stay out here too long, you'll freeze to death," he cackled as he quickly ran away.

"Daddy," Darien heard Katie shout from inside the cabin.

Darien tried to get his voice to work, but his throat refused to cooperate. As it turned out, he didn't need to shout to her because she was at his side seconds later. "Daddy, are you okay?" she asked fearfully as tears starting flowing down her cheeks.

"Kates," croaked Darien.

"You have to get inside, it's too cold out here," said Katie as she picked up Darien's leg to try and move him.

Darien firmly shook his head. "Can't," he choked out.

"I'm going to find mommy and Uncle Bobby then," said Katie.

"No, no, the bad guy is after them too," Darien managed to whisper.

"Maybe I can beat him there. I know how to get back. I remember the way from when he took me," said Katie.

"Katie no, you can't, it's too dangerous," moaned Darien as he struggled to move once again, but his body still wasn't having it.

"I'm going anyway," said Katie firmly as she ran back inside the cabin. She returned several seconds later with a blanket. "It'll keep you warm," she said as she draped it over him.

"Kates, please don't leave," cried Darien, fighting tears of pain and fear.

"I have to, daddy. There's no one else to help you," she said as she leaned down and placed a big kiss against Darien's bloody cheek. "I'll be back soon," she said as she started to run towards the forest.

"Katie," croaked Darien after her, but it was no use, she was already gone. He was about to lay his back against the ground and try to regain the strength to move when a sudden sharp lancing pain tore through the back of his neck. "Aw crap," he muttered as the pain ripped through his body. He started to pant and nearly passed out from the effort of fighting off the madness. When the wave passed, Darien held up his wrist and silently cursed. Three segments red, seven segments green. Darien let out a hoarse sob and then fell back against the ground, shivering with pain, cold, and nail biting fear.

**

"I'm taking you back," said Bobby firmly as he noticed Claire's own shivering form.

Claire firmly shook her head. "No Bobby, no way. I'm not leaving Darien and Katie out there by themselves."

"Keep, I know what you're trying to do here, but you're being stupid," said Bobby in a gentle tone. "I can find them and I'll bring them back on my own. It's going to get dark soon, not to mention the fact that it looks like it's going to snow any second."

"Bobby," countered Claire.

"Excuse me, may I say something here?" interrupted Arnaud.

Bobby eyed him in irritation. "No."

"Well too bad, I'm going to say it anyway. Sullivan is after all of us, not just Fawkes and the girl. That includes you and the good doctor. Once he finishes up with Fawkes, he'll come after us. " said Arnaud.

"What makes you so sure?" said Bobby.

"Wouldn't you if you were him?" asked Arnaud.

"Bobby, I hate to say this, but I think he's right," said Claire.

"So what are you suggesting here?" asked Bobby.

"We go back to the cabin and set a trap for the crazy bastard," answered Arnaud.

"Just leave Fawkes and Katie out to dry, is that what you're saying?" asked Bobby incredulously. "I won't do that. I refuse to do that. I'd rather die trying to find them then live and know that I could've helped them and didn't."

Arnaud shrugged. "Fine, have it your way. The doctor and I will go back to the cabin and you can keep looking."

"No," said Claire firmly. "We have to stick together and find them."

"We've been searching for hours and turned up nothing," said Arnaud. "We would have found them by now if they were still alive."

"Shut up," said Bobby as he jerked Arnaud to the ground.

Seconds later, a voice sounded from out in the distance. "Mommy?"

"Katie?" called Claire in surprise.

"Where are you kid?" asked Bobby.

"Over here," yelled Katie.

"Stay where you are, we'll come get you," said Bobby as he jerked Arnaud to his feet and quickly followed Claire in the direction Katie's voice had come from. A few trees and whole lot of scrubs later, they located her. She was sitting on a tree stump rubbing her feet, which were bloody from running through the woods barefoot.

"Katie!" shouted Claire as she ran to her and picked her up in her arms, cuddling her against her face. She broke out into tears and started running her hands through Katie's hair. "Are you all right, sweetheart? What happened to your feet?" she asked with concern as she saw Katie's bloody soles.

"I was running through the forest," said Katie. "Daddy needs you."

"Wait, you're dad found you?" asked Bobby.

"Yeah, yeah, at the cabin with the scary silver guy. He hurt daddy and left us there. He's after you now," answered Katie.

At that statement, Arnaud instantly quicksilvered his eyes, looking for any signs of Jason. When he didn't see any, he breathed a sigh of relief and dropped it.

"Where's your daddy now, kid?" asked Bobby urgently.

"Still at the cabin," answered Katie.

"How far is it?" asked Claire.

Katie shrugged. "I don't know. A while I guess. I can show you."

Bobby nodded. "Let's go," he said as he started dragging Arnaud in the direction Katie had come from.

"Katie, was your daddy invisible?" asked Claire as she carried Katie through the woods.

"Yeah, for awhile," said Katie.

"He might be going into the madness," said Claire. "I don't have any counteragent on me. Bloody hell, I didn't even think," she said in frustration.

"Fortunately, I did," said Arnaud as he took his free hand and stuck it in his pocket, pulling out a small black case. He opened it up and revealed two vials of chemicals, one light blue and one black,

along with a syringe. "I always like to be prepared," he said as he shoved the stuff back into his pocket.

"Thank goodness," she said as she started walking deeper into the woods. Bobby and Arnaud followed behind, Bobby with his thermal goggles and Arnaud with his eyes quicksilvered.

**

"Son of a bitch!" yelled Jason as he stormed into the Agency cabin and found it empty. He started throwing everything around, tearing everything to shreds. To the casual observer, it would look like the cabin was destroying itself. But Jason wasn't done with his destruction. He took a deep breath and headed out of the cabin, taking in a deep breath of the cold mountain air. "Time to finish this, Fawkesy," he said out loud as he started to sprint back towards his own cabin.

**

Meanwhile, Alex and Eberts were about an hour away from the Agency cabin. Alex, who had been driving the hummer, was trying to keep up with all the twists and turns in the road.

"Eberts are you sure we're going the right way?" asked Alex.

Eberts looked at the Agency map and nodded. "According to this map, Ms. Monroe, we stay on this road for another fifty miles and then we should run straight into the cabin." Eberts rooted around in a bag and located a stash of candy bars. "Milky Way?" he offered.

Alex glanced at the candy and shrugged. "Sure, why the hell not," she said as she continued to steer the Hummer down the road. She snuck a glance at the bag Eberts had taken the candy bar from and raised her eyebrows in surprise. "Eberts, why do you have twenty candy bars?"

"Energy, why else? We might have to do some hiking, and I want to be prepared," answered Eberts.

"Did you read that in the field agents handbook?" said Alex under her breath.

"What was that?" asked Eberts.

"Nothing," said Alex as she continued down the road.

**

"Oh god," groaned Darien as another excruciating slice of pain tore through the back of his neck. His monitor was at nine segments red, one segment green and he expected to hit madness within minutes. He clawed at the back of his neck, trying to tear the gland out of his head, but it was no use. He was dangerously close to passing out, but the intense pain coursing throughout his whole body didn't give him that luxury.

"Please, please let them all be okay," whispered Darien as he felt the madness slowly seep into his brain. One last burst of agony tore through his head, and then suddenly, he was insane and free from all the pain. And then, he realized how he could beat Jason Sullivan once and for all.

TBC


	8. Part 7

DS#10 Storms of Quicksilver (7/?)

By Carol M.

See prologue for details

Note: Well, I managed to make it through graduation without falling on my booty. Thanks for all the well wishes, and thanks for all the feedback and reviews for this story. Enjoy the next part!

Jason sprinted through the forest as quickly as he possibly could, taking in gulping mouthfuls of air as he ran. He could feel the hate and anger coursing through his veins and all he wanted to do was pummel someone with his fists and body until they were dead. That someone was Darien Fawkes.

He could see the cabin in the distance and the knowledge that he was close to his goal sent a surge of adrenaline through him that erased any fatigue or pain. He was a one man killing machine now. A terminator.

He dashed towards the side of the cabin where he had left Darien and growled in anger when he saw the bloody spot was empty. "Where are you, Fawkes?" he called out in anger.

"Right here," was the response that came from behind him. Jason turned around and saw the golden glow of Darien standing before him. Darien unquicksilvered his eyes and red bloody orbs greeted Jason as he unquicksilvered his own silver eyes. 

"Nice," said Darien as his eyes turned from red to silver. "Looks like we're finally seeing eye to eye."

"That we are," said Jason as he dived into Darien. He took them through the broken window into the cabin, sending them both crashing to the floor. They both recovered quickly and began trading punches, spraying the floor of the cabin with blood.

Darien got Jason in a chokehold and began bashing his head against the wall, causing Jason to scream in anger. Jason extended his arm and placed an excruciating blow to Darien's groin, sending him gasping to the floor. He took the opportunity and stood up as he began to kick Darien as hard as he could in the stomach. "This is how it ends, Fawkes. I'm going to keep going until you're a broken dead puddle on the floor," he said as he drove Darien into the opposite wall with the force of his kicks.

"Maybe not," gasped Darien as he grabbed a hold of Jason's foot and lifted it up, causing Jason to fall harshly onto his back. "Don't underestimate me, you son of a bitch," said Darien as he started stamping his foot down on Jason's chest and back as hard as possible.

"Ditto," said Jason as he brought his foot up and connected it with Darien's knee. There was an audible pop and Darien fell to the floor, staring at his mangled limb.

"That wasn't very nice," said Darien as he gazed up at Jason's blue twinkling form. He spotted Katie's razor out of the corner of his eye and quickly palmed it. Then he drove the razor into Jason's own knee, sending him to the floor howling in anger and pain. "Two can play that game," said Darien smugly.

Jason recovered and dived at Darien, grabbing his neck, which effectively knocked the quicksilver off of Darien. He squeezed as hard as he could, hopping to pop the gland and the brains out of Darien's head.

Darien choked and gasped, unable to get any air into his lungs. He began to see stars in front of his eyes and was about to pass out when he heard the sound of a gun cocking from somewhere out of his line of sight.

"Drop him, Sullivan," he heard the distinctive voice of Bobby's Hobbes say in a firm voice.

Jason let go of Darien's neck and began to laugh hysterically. He turned around and saw Bobby and Arnaud both staring at him, Bobby with thermal goggles and a gun pointed at him and Arnaud with his eyes quicksilvered. 

"It's over," said Bobby. "You're going back," he said as he quickly glanced down at Darien and noticed the silver eyes staring back at him.

"No he's not," declared Darien in a voice filled with rage as he suddenly quicksilvered his eyes, lunged up and dived into Jason. 

Jason was ready for the attack however and managed to get his hands on the razor. As Darien's hands encircled his throat, he pulled out the razor from his hand and began stabbing Darien's torso as hard as he could.

Darien cried out, but refused to let go of Jason's throat. He pounded Jason's head into the floor as hard as he could, knocking his fellow silver-eyed friend into semi-unconscious.

"Fawkes, let him go," said Bobby as he came up behind him with Arnaud attached at the wrist.

Darien lunged back and knocked Bobby off of him, causing both Bobby and Arnaud to fall back against the floor. Bobby smacked his head against the wall and fell into unconsciousness, while Arnaud managed to survive the fall unscathed. He reached into his pocket and pulled out the vials of counteragent and the syringe. He quickly filled the syringe with the black counteragent and stood up, dragging Bobby's prone body with him.

"Fawkes," he called out.

Darien looked up and Arnaud took his opening, stabbing the contents into Darien's neck. Darien stiffened for a second and then fell off of Jason in a fit of convulsions, knocking his tortured body around the floor.

Arnaud played around with his handcuffs and tried slipping a hand through. He sighed in surprise when the idea worked and his hand effortlessly slid through the handcuffs that had attached him to Bobby for so long. He stood up and quicksilvered Bobby's hand, pulling the handcuff off of Bobby's wrist as well. Then he walked to Sullivan and grabbed his hands, cuffing them behind his back. He then stepped back to Bobby and grabbed his gun, training it at Jason. "Doctor, it's safe," called out Arnaud.

Claire and Katie quickly entered the cabin, only to be surprised by Darien's body popping off the floor, his silver eyes still glowing. "No it's not," he said as he lunged at Arnaud.

"Fawkes," cried out Arnaud as Darien put him in a chokehold. Arnaud kicked up and made a firm connection with Darien's groin, sending him back against the floor.

"Did you give him the shot?" Claire cried out in concern as she shoved Katie towards the door.

Darien turned around and smiled at her. "Oh yeah, he gave me the shot," he said in a cool voice as he slowly stood up and started walking towards her.

Claire started to back up towards the door. "Darien no," said Claire as her back hit the wall.

Darien heard a gun cocking behind his back. "Fawkes, stop," said Arnaud as he pointed the gun at Darien's head.

Darien snorted and turned around, knocking the gun out of Arnaud's hand and sending Arnaud to the floor in a daze. Then he turned back around and swiftly stepped to Claire, pulling her body down to the floor. "Darien!" shouted Claire in a panic.

Darien felt someone start to hit him softly on the back. He turned around and saw Katie lightly pounding him with her fists. "Get off of mommy!" shouted Katie.

Darien coiled his hand into a fist. "Stop it, you little bitch!" he screamed as he punched her in the face, sending her flying across the floor.

"Don't you hurt her!" yelled Claire as she started kicking at Darien's stomach. "This isn't you! This isn't you!" she screamed as Darien turned back to her and began to choke her with every ounce of power he had.

Claire began to gasp and choke as her air was completely cut off. Tears began running down her face as she realized she was going to be killed by her own husband. She was about to black out when she suddenly heard a strangled cry from above her. She looked up and saw that Darien's eyes had turned from silver to red. He gazed down at her and realization seemed to hit him in the face like a Mac truck. He let go of her neck and instantly backed away from her. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry," he whispered repeatedly as Claire began to gasp for air. "Kates," said Darien uncertainly as he glanced over at his daughter and saw her rubbing at her eye, which was already forming a nasty bruise. "Guys, I'm sorry," he said as his eyes started to well up with tears.

Arnaud snorted. "Save the tears, Fawkes, we've got…Aw crap," he said as he glanced over at Jason and saw that all that was left of him was a pair of broken handcuffs. "Fawkes, he's gone."

Darien quicksilvered his eyes and looked around the room, not seeing anything. "He's not here."

"Think again," said Jason out of mid air as he grabbed a hold of Darien's body and began smashing him against the wall.

Darien, whose strength and adrenaline was rapidly leaving him, lacked the energy to put up a fight. He was banged mercilessly against the wall, feeling his already abused bones and muscles break and tear. Within a few short minutes, the effects of the counteragent coupled with the effects of the beating took their toll and Darien slumped to the floor in unconsciousness. 

Jason smiled and let his quicksilver drop. He stepped aside for a moment, eyeing the others in the room.

Katie quickly crawled over to Darien's bloody form, while Claire starting sobbing in anger, fear and pain. Arnaud stared up at Jason with a grim look on his face, while Bobby groaned and began to regain consciousness.

"Looks like the time has come to finally say goodbye," said Jason dramatically as he stepped over Darien and pulled out Bobby's gun, which he had picked up off the floor.

Katie crawled on top of Darien and positioned her body over his, trying to protect him from Jason's fists and bullets. "Don't hurt my daddy anymore," she cried out.

"He hurt you," countered Jason, nodding at her eye.

"That wasn't him," said Katie simply.

"Keep telling yourself that, kid," said Jason.

As Arnaud watched the exchange take place, he noticed Bobby struggling to reach something in his pants leg, but the pain and dizziness from his injury wasn't allowing him to get to it. Arnaud glanced down at the pants leg and saw what looked like a gun sticking out.

"Don't kill my husband," cried out Claire suddenly, causing everyone in the room to turn to her in surprise. "Please," she whispered softly. 

"Sorry," replied Jason. "I didn't get the chance to prevent you people from killing my brother. Sucks how life works out sometimes, doesn't it?"

"Please," pleaded Claire once more.

Jason shook his head. "No," he said firmly as he pointed the gun at Darien's head. Katie scrambled upwards to protect her dad's body.

"No, please, please don't kill him," she cried out as she spread her body out to protect Darien's. 

"Guess you're gonna go with him, kid," he said as he put his finger on the trigger, ready to fire.

At that instant, everything seemed go in slow motion. Claire put her hands over her eyes and started to scream. Bobby struggled once again to reach his gun, but couldn't quite pull it off. Katie began to sob hysterically as her short life began to flash before her eyes. She grabbed Darien and buried her head against his chest, ready to leave this life with her daddy.

And suddenly, the sound of gunshots filled the air. One after another. Pop. Pop. Pop. Pop. Pop.

Claire couldn't bear to watch and quickly turned her head, trying to block the awful sound out of her mind. Bobby, on the other hand, couldn't take his eyes off of the scene unfolding before him and stared forward as if he were watching a train wreck.

Moments later, Jason Sullivan lay on the floor in a pool of blood, his brains leaking out from his head, the gland peaking out from some of the bloody debris. His eyes slowly changed from silver then to red and finally back to his normal blue eye color. He gasped for air and then his eyes slowly drifted shut.

Standing over him was Arnaud, the gun from Bobby's pants leg still smoking in his hand. He let out a deep breath and then dropped the gun to the floor, the loud sound interrupting the utter silence that had pervaded the cabin.

TBC


	9. Part 8

DS #10 Storms of Quicksilver

By Carol M.

See prologue for details

Sorry this part took so long, but I was moving out of my apartment. Enjoy it, kiddies!

No one in the cabin wanted to move. They all lay there in shock as they stared at the mangled corpse of Jason Sullivan.

Claire was the first one to gain back some semblance of humanity. She picked herself off the ground and gave Arnaud a long, grateful stare. Then she quickly stepped to Darien and Katie, cursing silently under her breath as she saw the pair folded about one another. "Katie," she whispered softly as she tried to pull her daughter off of Darien.

Katie was sobbing and seemed to not hear her mother's request.

"Sweetie, you have to let go of him now," said Claire as she tried to break Katie's tight grip on Darien's arm.

Katie shook her head and pressed herself even further against Darien's unconscious form. "No," she sniffled.

At this point, Bobby had regained the use of his voice and limbs and stood up, gazing at Arnaud and then Jason's body. "Why?" he asked simply as he glanced at Claire trying to manhandle Katie off of Darien.

Arnaud shrugged. "If anyone's going to kill Darien Fawkes, it's going to be me."

Bobby smirked. "That's sounds about right."

"Besides, I'm not a complete monster. Katie didn't need to be hurt," added Arnaud.

"Ah ha," said Bobby. "She made you care about her, didn't she?" as he picked up a blanket and threw it over Jason's body.

Arnaud looked down for a moment and then looked back up with a small smile on his face. "Yeah," he said softly.

"Figures," said Bobby as he stepped over to Claire to help her with Katie and Darien.

Arnaud watched the family try and help each other for a few minutes and then casually backed towards the door. "I'll see you soon, Fawkes," he whispered as he slipped out the door, despite the snow that had started to fall.

Claire turned around at that moment and gasped when she didn't see Arnaud. "Bobby, Arnaud's gone," she said in a somewhat concerned tone.

Bobby nodded. "I know."

Claire stared intensely at him for a few moments and then nodded her head in understanding. The pair went back to the task of helping Katie and Darien.

"Okay kiddo, here we go," said Bobby as he lifted Katie's sobbing form off of Darien. He carried her over to the couch where he let her cry her eyes out in his arms while he stroked his hand through her hair. "It's okay, it's all over, Katesy. You did good. You saved you're daddy, kiddo. Everything's going to be fine."

While Bobby comforted Katie, Claire attended to Darien. His body was a tangled heap of bruises, blood and broken bones. She didn't even want to touch him for fear she would somehow hurt him. "Darien," can you hear me?" she whispered in his ear as she took his pulse, which was sluggish and weak. There was no response from Darien.

She ran a delicate hand across his forehead followed by a light kiss. Then she stood up and walked to the refrigerator, glancing out the window as she stepped. "Bloody hell," she exclaimed as she saw snow coming down outside.

"What? What?" asked Bobby with concern as he tried to move Katie out of his lap, where she had fallen into an exhausted sleep.

"It's snowing," she said grimly.

Bobby glanced out the window and cringed. "It's a freakin blizzard out there."

"What are we going to do with Darien?" asked Claire as she looked through the refrigerator to see if there was anything that she could use to help her husband.

"I don't think we've got much of a choice here, Keep. Looks like we're kind of stuck here for the time being," said Bobby as he located a blanket and placed it over Katie.

"What about Alex and Eberts?" asked Claire. "The Official sent them up here, right?"

Bobby nodded. "Problem is, they think we're at the Agency cabin. They have no idea where we are," he said as he reached into his pocket to pull out his cell phone. "Um Keep," he said in a skittish tone.

"Yeah?" asked Claire as she pulled out a few ancient bags of frozen peas and corn.

"I lost my cell phone," said Bobby.

"Great," said Claire as she stepped over to Darien and tried to clean him up.

**

"Keep going," said Alex firmly as her and Eberts slowly made their way through the snowy trail near the Agency cabin.

"Ms. Monroe, we have no way of knowing where they've gone," said Eberts as he tightened the hood of his blue parka.

"Shut up, Eberts," said Alex as she continued to walk down the trail. Her body started to shiver at the intense cold the snowstorm had brought with it. She would kill for a heater, a down blanket and a mug of hot chocolate right about now.

"Ms. Monroe, I really don't think this is wise. I say we go back to the cabin and wait out the storm. Then we can look for them," said Eberts as he followed behind her.

Alex stopped short for a moment and contemplated Eberts' logic. She hated to admit it, but the glorified file clerk was right. "Okay," she said in a strange tone.

Eberts looked at her in confusion. "Okay?"

Alex nodded. "Yes, let's go back."

"Please forgive me, Ms. Monroe, but are you agreeing with me?" asked Eberts in shock.

"Yes," said Alex simply.

"But no one ever agrees with me. In fact, I can't even recall one instance of someone at the Agency agreeing with me," said Eberts.

"Well, I guess this makes the record books then," said Alex as she started walking back towards the cabin.

**

"So what's the damage?" asked Bobby as he gazed down at his unconscious partner who was still laying on the floor. A blanket had been tucked around him and a pillow had been placed under his head.

Claire sighed and sat down next to Darien, running a hand through his dirty hair. "In a nut shell, he's one big bruise from head to toe," she said as she pulled down the blanket and lifted up Darien's shirt, revealing glorious purple blossoms all over his torso. "A couple of broken ribs, a broken arm, a bruised kneecap, the list goes on. The injuries I'm most worried about are to his throat and stomach," she said as she pointed at the raw tattered cuts that were still oozing slightly from Darien's throat. "Infection and plus the small fact that the wire might have severed his vocal cords."

"Aw damn Keep, you gotta fix that. Fawkes will be lost without the ability to run his trap," said Bobby. "What's with his stomach?" he asked as he knelt down next to Claire and looked at Darien's normally thin stomach, which had currently swelled up to give him the appearance of a slight beer belly.

"Internal bleeding," she said as she ran her hand over Darien's stomach and felt the rigidness of the swelling. "He needs surgery. We have to get him out of here as quickly as possible."

Bobby nodded and looked out the window, noting that the snow had lightened up considerably. "What do you say I go for a little hiking trip? Maybe Alex and Eberts are already here and looking for us."

Claire nodded hopefully. "He might not last the way he's looking right now," she said in a brave voice, fighting off tears.

Bobby placed a comforting hand on her shoulder. "Hey…Claire…we've gotten through much tougher scrapes than this. This guys a fighter and you know that. He'll be fine."

"I know," sniffled Claire. "I just get so sick of cleaning up the damage. Sometimes I wish I wasn't his doctor. Right now, I just want to be his wife," she said as she leaned down and kissed Darien on the lips.

Bobby smiled and shook his head.

"What?" asked Claire curiously.

"No, it's nothing," said Bobby in a dismissive tone.

"Bobby," said Claire sharply.

Bobby shrugged. "I just wonder sometimes, that's all."

"About what?" she asked as they both stood up and headed towards the door.

Bobby blushed in slight embarrassment. "What it would have been like it if would have been you and me, instead of you and Fawkes."

"Bobby," said Claire.

"No, you know. The whole courting, the wedding, Katie…hell, the soap opera that's been our lives for the past couple of years. I wonder if things would have been different," he said somewhat wistfully.

"Bobby, I told you I'd be open to having an affair at least twice a year," said Claire, trying to lighten the mood.

Bobby shook his head in anger. "That's not it, Claire. I love you, okay. I'll always have and you know it. Sometimes I feel like Fawkes just swooped down like a hawk and stole my prey right out from under me."

"Prey?" asked Claire. "So now I'm some helpless rabbit."

"I'm gonna leave," said Bobby in a hurt tone as he headed out the door.

"Bobby," called Claire after him,

"What?" he said.

Claire stepped to him and planted a firm kiss against his lips. Bobby melted into the kiss and began running his hands through Claire's golden strands. After several seconds, they backed away. Bobby was left staring at Claire with a warm blush on his cheeks. "So that's what it's like."

Claire smiled. "You think that's good, you should kiss Darien."

Bobby scoffed. "I think I'll pass," he said as he headed out the door again.

"I love you," said Claire quickly. "Just not the way you want me to," she said sadly.

"Story of my life, sweetheart," said Bobby with a slight smile as he disappeared out the door.

Claire sighed and looked back at Darien, who was gazing at her with his eyes wide open. "Oh dear," she said as she quickly ran to him and sat down, taking his hand in hers. "Did you hear all of that?"

Darien tried to nod but failed miserably. "Unfortunately," he gasped out.

"Darien I'm sorry," said Claire.

Darien painfully tried to shrug. "Everything he said is true, you know. I did sort of sweep in and steal his woman. But as the old adage goes, all's fair in love, war and quicksilver."

"Quicksilver, huh?" said Claire.

"Especially quicksilver," murmured Darien. "We need to get Hobbes a chick. Maybe Alex or Sally from Accounting."

Claire laughed and ignored the tears that started to fall from her eyes as she bent down and kissed her husband. When they parted, Darien was gazing up at her with a troubled look on his face. "The cabin seems a little empty," he hoarsed out.

"Right," said Claire hesitantly. "Jason has been taken care of," she said, nodding towards the sheet draped over his dead body.

Darien shivered. "Thank god."

Claire nodded in agreement. "But unfortunately, Arnaud got away."

"How? You could've stopped him, couldn't you?" said Darien knowingly. "Why'd you let him get away?"

Claire took a deep breath. "Because he saved your and Katie's life."

Darien stared up at her in shock for several seconds, letting the information digest in his mind. "Well, at least we got one of the psychos," he whispered after a few more seconds. "Is Katie okay?" he asked.

Claire pointed towards the sleeping little girl on the couch. "Exhausted, but fine."

Darien nodded and swallowed painfully.

Claire began running her hand up and down his chest. "Do you hurt?"

"So much you wouldn't believe," said Darien. He looked deep into her eyes and then flashed her his puppy dogs. "I'm so sorry for what I did when I was in Stage Five. I won't ever let that happen again."

"Darien, it was the only way to try and beat him. It wasn't your fault. I'm not mad at you," said Claire.

"What about Kates?" asked Darien, his eyes threatening to close.

"Well if Katie's mad, she has a strange way of showing it," said Claire as she glanced over at her sleeping daughter. "After you passed out, she crawled on top of you and used herself as a shield to protect you from Jason," she said in a proud voice.

Darien sighed and his eyes filled with tears. "Where'd that kid learn to be so brave, huh? She didn't get it from me, that's for sure."

Claire smiled. "I firmly believe that Katie is a mixture of the absolute best of both of us. She's smart, pretty, brave…she's great at picking locks."

"Of course she is," said Darien with a smirk as his eyes closed. "She knew how to pick a lock with a credit card when she was three years old," he said, his whisper quickly turning into a gasp. "Claire, I hurt," he said suddenly.

"I know you do, sweetheart," she said sympathetically as she ran a hand through his hair. "Help's coming soon, I promise," she said as she picked up a nearby ice bag and placed it on Darien's stomach.

Darien groaned and then passed out again, leaving Claire alone to hold his hand and wait for help to arrive.

TBC


	10. Part 9

DS#10 Storms of Quicksilver (9/9 + Epilogue)

By Carol M.

See prologue for details

"Crap, crap, crap," muttered Bobby over and over again as he walked through the woods. The snow had stopped completely an hour earlier and now the ground was covered in several inches of thick white powder. This would have been good news to Bobby if he weren't completely lost.

He had started off on the path leading away from Jason's cabin and somewhere along the line had taken a wrong turn, ending up in a thick stretch of trees and shrubbery. His feet were frozen and his head was aching from the whack he had received hours earlier from his quicksilver mad partner. Things were just dandy.

"Eberts! Alex! Anybody out there?" he called out into the night. The only sound that greeted him was a slight rustle of wind through the trees. "Come on, quit playing hide and seek and come out with the big boys," he yelled out into the night.

This continued for another hour and as the time passed by, Bobby got more and more worried. Time was running out for his partner and his tracking skills, or lack there of, might just get Darien killed. "Monroe!" he screamed out into the night. "Ebes! Come on buddy. Come out, come out wherever you are!" he screamed.

"Robert?" he heard someone in the distance yell.

"Eberts?" Bobby shouted back.

"Hobbes?" he heard the voice of someone female yell.

"Monroe. Get over here," shouted Bobby eagerly.

He sank back against a tree and listened to the sound of moving brush and crunching snow as Alex and Eberts quickly made their way over to Bobby. When they finally got to him, he ran to them and gave them both huge bear hugs, surprising the hell out of both of them. "Thank god. Just thank god. Where's the Agency cabin?" he asked frantically.

Alex pointed behind her. "Back that way. Where's Fawkes and Claire?"

Bobby shook his head. "No time to explain," he said as he started rushing towards the direction the pair had come from. "You got a car?"

"Hummer," answered Eberts.

"Perfect," said Bobby as he continued through the brush. When he realized that Alex and Eberts weren't following, he stopped short and looked back at the pair, who were staring at him in stupefied silence. "Well are you just gonna stand there or are you gonna help me save Fawkes' life?"

The words broke the spell the pair had fallen under, and Alex and Eberts quickly dashed after Bobby, eager to get to the Hummer.

**

Katie awoke on the couch to the sound of someone throwing up. She quickly sat up and watched as her mother rubbed the back of her father, who was busy trying to keep his stomach inside his body. "Mommy?" she said with concern as Darien fell back to the ground with a muffled groan, sweat pouring off his body. "What's wrong with daddy?" she asked as she climbed off the couch and stepped to Darien and Claire with trepidation.

"Daddy's sick, honey," said Claire as she hid the bucket Darien had used to throw up in. The bucket that was currently dotted with blood.

Katie sat down next to Darien, who was breathing heavily and squinting like the light in the room hurt his eyes. When he noticed she was sitting next to him, he grabbed at her hand. "Kates," he whispered in a scared tone.

Katie latched onto his hand and gave him a huge smile despite the fear that was pounding through her tiny frame. "It's okay, daddy. You'll be fine."

"I'm sorry I hit you, sweetie," whispered Darien, his eyes wide with pain as he gazed at the bruise on Katie's face.

Katie put her hand up to her face and touched the bruise. "Doesn't hurt. You hit like a girl," she said teasingly.

Darien smiled and attempted to laugh, which only served in igniting his nausea once again. "Aw crap," he murmured as he leaned away from Katie and vomited all over the floor.

Katie glanced at the vomit in slight disgust, wrinkling her nose at the smell. "Gross," she said as she noticed the red specks. "Daddy are you bleeding? Why did you barf blood?"

Claire was at their side in an instant, already starting to clean up the vomit. "It's nothing sweetie, daddy's just got a bit of a tummy ache," she said, trying like hell not to scare Katie.

"I've had tummy aches before, and I've never spewed blood," said Katie as she gazed fearfully at Darien. "Is daddy going to be okay?"

Claire nodded firmly. "He's just sick, that's all," she responded.

"Okay," said Katie, not at all reassured. She glanced around the room and noticed the sheet draped over Jason's body. "What's that?"

Claire glanced at Darien with concern and then looked back at Katie. "Sweetie, why don't you help you're daddy. The ice box just ran out of ice, and I need to go outside and get some snow," she said, standing up. She walked to the sink and wetted a washcloth she had found in the bathroom. "Here, can you wipe your daddy's face with this?" said Claire as she handed Katie the washcloth.

Katie took the washcloth and nodded. She gazed at her father with tears sparkling in her eyes.

Claire noticed the almost tears right away and knelt down on the ground, taking both of Katie's hands. "Honey, I promise he will be okay. Trust me," she said as she leaned forward and gave Katie a tight squeeze.

Katie wiped at her tears and nodded. "Okay," she sniffled.

Claire stood up and kissed Katie on top of the head. "I'll be right back," she said as she stepped out the door.

Katie sighed and knelt down next to her daddy, wiping his brow with the washcloth. "Does it hurt?" she asked.

Darien stifled a snort. "Hardly at all."

"Daddy, don't lie. You're not any good at it," said Katie as she wiped off his cheeks and neck.

"Can't ever fool you, can I," whispered Darien.

"Nope," said Katie.

Darien closed his eyes for a minute and then they flew back open, his eyes wide with pain. "Katie, get your mom," he gasped out.

Katie nodded fearfully and tore out the door. "Mommy! Mommy!" she shouted.

Claire dropped her ice collection bucket on the ground and quickly ran towards her. "What's wrong?" she asked with concern.

"Something's wrong with daddy," responded Katie in a panic as she took a hold of Claire's hand and dragged her into the cabin. 

They found Darien convulsing on the floor, his face etched with pain and his breath coming in short, ragged gasps.

"Oh god," said Claire as she quickly knelt down next to Darien to try and help him, leaving Katie standing beside them sobbing softly.

**

"That's it, right through the trees there," shouted Bobby as Alex ran over a baby pine. "Keep going, keep going, we're almost there."

"So Sullivan's dead and Arnaud got away," said Eberts from his position in the back seat.

"That's affirmative," said Bobby.

"And how did Arnaud happen to slip away?" asked Alex as she rolled over a patch of shrubbery.

"Just kind of disappeared into the night," said Bobby as he stared out the front windshield, eager to get to the cabin.

"Why do I think there's more to that story then you're letting on," asked Alex.

Bobby was about to respond when he suddenly made out the outline of the cabin straight ahead. "Whoa, whoa, there it is. Right there, right there. Step on it, sweetheart."

Alex did just that and less than a minute later, they were parking outside the cabin. Bobby quickly got out of the Hummer and dashed in the cabin with Alex and Eberts on his heels. They found Claire leaning over a very unconscious Darien and Katie sitting on the couch.

"Oh thank god," cried Claire in relief when she saw the trio enter the cabin.

"Is he dead?" asked Bobby as he knelt down next to Darien's still form.

Claire shook her head. "He's barely alive though. I nearly lost him," she said as she gazed gratefully at Alex and Eberts. "We need to get him to a hospital now."

Bobby nodded and moved towards Darien's head. "Eberts, a little help."

Eberts quickly stepped forward and grabbed Darien's legs, while Bobby grabbed under his arms. Together, they began hauling his body out of the cabin.

"Be careful, try not to move him too much," said Claire as she followed behind them.

Alex sighed and then glanced at the couch where Katie was busy looking at her feet and trying not to cry. "Katie, sweetie, it's time to go."

Katie looked up and nodded. She hopped off the couch and took Alex's waiting hand, the pair quickly walking out of the cabin. Once outside, the group of friends and family piled into the Hummer and tore off through the forest, leaving Jason's body abandoned in the cabin.

**

"What's the word?" asked Bobby nearly fifteen hours later as he saw Claire emerge bloody and exhausted from the surgical wing at the hospital where they had taken Darien.

Claire smiled and sank down in the chair next to Bobby. "He'll be okay. He's got some broken bones, multiple lacerations, excessive bruises and a bit of an infection. We were able to repair the damage to his stomach with no complications."

"So daddy's going to be okay?" asked Katie excitedly from her position next to Bobby.

Claire nodded and then suddenly burst into tears. Bobby leaned against her and took her in his arms, whispering reassurances in her ear. "It's been a tough couple of days. Let it out, just let it out, Keep."

Alex, who had been watching the exchange from across the room, quickly walked over and grabbed Katie's arm. "What do you say we go get your mommy some food?"

Claire took a deep breath and pulled away from Bobby. "No it's okay, I'm fine," she said, wiping at her tears. She gazed down at Katie and gave her a reassuring smile. "I'm fine sweetie. I'm just relieved your daddy's going to be okay."

"Me too," said Katie with a huge smile. "When can I see him?"

"Oh, not for a few days yet, sweetheart. They're putting him in the intensive care unit and kids can't go in. Soon though, I promise," said Claire.

Katie nodded sadly and sat back down in her chair.

"Hey, why the long face kid? Your dad's gonna be so drugged up he won't even know we're there. By the time you get to see him, he'll be making some sense," said Bobby.

"That's true," said Katie.

"See," said Bobby, glancing at Alex. "What do you say you and your Auntie Alex go check out the gift shop?"

"Yeah honey, it'll be fun. You can pick out a cool get well present for your daddy," said Alex, grabbing hold of Katie's hand once again.

"Okay," said Katie.

"Sweetie, when you get back, Uncle Bobby will take you to the hotel, okay. We'll probably go home sometime next week after your daddy is transferred to a San Diego hospital," said Claire.

Katie nodded and then let Alex lead her towards the elevators.

Claire watched them leave and then sank back down in her chair again. "Thank god," she whispered out loud.

"No kidding," said Bobby. "You did good."

Claire nodded. "So what's going on with everything?"

"Well, we sent a team with Eberts to get Sullivan's body and we also got a team looking for Arnaud," said Bobby.

"Let me guess, nothing so far," said Claire.

"You got that right, Keep," said Bobby.

"Don't hate me for saying this, but I'm actually kind of glad. Without Arnaud, Darien and the rest of us wouldn't have a chance in hell," said Claire.

"Yeah, the little Swiss bastard got a get out of jail free card today. But tomorrow, things go right back to how they used to be, meaning we nail his ass to the floor," said Bobby.

"Uh huh," said Claire, yawning.

"You need to get some sleep," said Bobby.

"I'm going to see if they'll put a bed in Darien's room," said Claire as she started to stand up.

"No, stay," said Bobby, gently pushing her back in the chair. "Just relax, I'll take care of it."

Claire nodded and leaned back in the chair, closing her eyes.

When Bobby returned ten minutes later, he found Claire sound asleep in the chair. He smiled slightly and then took off his coat, draping it over her sleeping form. Then he sat down next to her and waited for Alex and Katie to return.

TBC in Epilogue


	11. Epilogue

DS #10 Storms of Quicksilver (epilogue)

By Carol M.

See prologue for details

Note: And we've reached the end once again. I wasn't sure how people were going to react to a certain little Katie Fawkes, but it seems as though you guys liked her. If you want it, I would be happy to give you more Katie, more Darien torture, more Arnaud and more Devil's Silver in the future. Also, if it seemed like the whole point of this story was to beat the crap out of Darien, well, it kind of was. The fight scenes in this story were inspired by the ending fight scene in the film Panic Room. The fight involves a variety of characters trying to take down the bad guys and I found the images quite inspiring. The fight scenes for this story were technically very challenging to write because of all the characters involved and the task of trying to figure out their placement within the scene. But I digress. Up next for me, a standalone angst fest that will tackle an alternative to The New Stuff or an action/comedy involving an unlikely pairing. One final note, if you're looking for any musical inspiration for Storms of Quicksilver, the Katie/Darien theme song for me was A New Day Has Come by Celine Dion. I'm not a big Celine fan, but somehow this song just seemed to fit. Anyway, enough of my rambling. Enjoy the end, kids!

Darien awoke three days later to the soothing sensation of someone running a hand up and down his arm. He opened his eyes and saw the eyes of his wife staring back at him. "Hey," he gurgled out.

Claire smiled widely. "Hi yourself."

"Guess I didn't die, huh?" said Darien.

Claire shook her head. "Nope. Used up another one of those nine lives though. I think you're down to, oh I don't know, negative twenty?" she said teasingly.

Darien attempted to laugh, but stopped when his body protested. "Don't make fun of me," he whispered.

"Ah, but that's my job," said Claire as she leaned down and kissed his cheek. 

"What time is it?" asked Darien.

"Nine at night," said Claire. "Figures you'd wake up when it's almost bedtime."

"Yeah well, I'm always great with timing," said Darien.

Claire glanced towards the door and then back at Darien. "Think you could stand a little more company? Bobby's out there and Katie's been camped outside the door for the last three days."

Darien's eyes started to sparkle. "I'd love that."

Claire nodded. "Let me go get them," she said as she stepped outside the door and whispered something to whoever was standing outside. 

A second later, Claire left the room and Bobby stepped in, eyeing his partner with sympathy. "Ouch," he said as he walked up to the side of the bed. "You look like you're feeling every single bruise on your skinny body, pal."

Darien nodded. "Don't remind me," he said in a hoarse tone.

Bobby looked down at the ground. "We didn't find Arnaud."

Darien shrugged. "Not surprising. We'll get the little bastard."

Bobby nodded and looked Darien in the eyes. "We sure will," he said as he shifted uncomfortably. "Look…what I said about me and Claire," Bobby shrugged towards the door, "Keep told me you heard all that and I just wanted to say…you know…"

"You were right," said Darien matter of factly.

"What's that?" said Bobby in confusion.

"I took her away from you, and I'm sorry. I thought we had gotten through this, but I guess we haven't," said Darien. 

Bobby nodded. "I guess not," he said softly. "Doesn't mean I don't love you," he added after a few beats.

"Oh, so you're declaring your love now?" said Darien. "Not gonna kick me in the nuts like you did seven years ago the first time we had this conversation?"

"Well, I think you've been kicked in the nuts enough for one year. But yeah, I guess I am declaring my love, even though you're still a punk, a thief of chicks and a hell of a bastard when you hit your partner," said Bobby.

Darien nodded. "Yeah, about that, I'm sorry, man. There was just no other way."

"Yeah," said Bobby. "Well, I'm gonna let little Fawkesy come say hi. She's been waiting to see you," he said as he stepped towards the door.

"Hey Hobbes," Darien called after him.

"Yeah Fawkes?" asked Bobby.

"What about Monroe?" asked Darien with a devilish look in his eyes.

Bobby smirked. "Maybe…maybe. Take care buddy. I'll see you tomorrow."

"See ya, man," said Darien as he shifted his position to get more comfortable. When he looked up, Katie was standing in the doorway holding her backpack. "Sweets, what's up?" he said happily.

Katie slowly stepped to the bed, eyeing all the monitors attached to her dad in fear.

"Kates, it's okay, you can touch me, I'm all right. You're not going to hurt me," said Darien as he relaxed into his pillow.

Katie visibly relaxed and came up next to him, placing a small kiss on his cheek. "I missed you, daddy."

"Come here," said Darien as he stretched his arms out as far as they would go. 

Katie stepped forward and wrapped her arms tightly around him, being careful not to hug too tight. "I heard mommy telling the doctors that you were in a lot of pain," she said as she pulled away from him.

"Naw Kates, it's fine," whispered Darien.

Katie ignored him. "So I brought something to cheer you up," she said as she reached into her backpack and pulled out her stuffed bunny. She stepped forward and placed it in Darien's arms.

"Oh sweetie, no, you don't have to give me this. You can't sleep without him," said Darien as he tried to hand her back the bunny.

Katie firmly shook her head. "You need Mr. Carrots more than I do right now. He always makes me feel better when I'm sick or sad."

Darien nodded his head and hugged the bunny tightly against his body. "Thanks Katie," he said, fighting back tears of gratitude.

"You're welcome," said Katie as she sorted through her backpack, which was filled with books and crayons. "Is there anything else I can do?" she asked, gazing up at him.

Darien eyed the books in Katie's backpack and smiled. "You can read me a bedtime story," he said hopefully.

Katie glanced at the books in her backpack and shook her head. "Daddy, these books are too hard for me to read. I brought them here so Mommy and Uncle Bobby could read to me."

Darien shook his head. "Doesn't matter. Read one anyway. You know them all by heart."

Katie smiled and nodded. "Okay." She reached into her backpack and pulled out a copy of Peter Rabbit. She sat down on the edge of the bed, opened the book and began to tell the story. "Well there's these four bunnies, Flopsy, Mopsy, Cottontail and Peter playing outside. Their mommy comes out and tells them that they can play in the fields or the lanes, but not in Mr. McGregor's garden. So the three girl bunnies naturally listen to their mommy, but Peter is a bad bunny and goes in the garden anyway. Well Mr. McGregor catches him and chases him all over the garden. Peter gets lost and tries to…" Katie stopped when she heard the soft sound of snores coming out of her daddy's lips. 

She smiled slightly and leaned down, kissing him on the cheek. She put Peter Rabbit back in her book bag and then pulled the covers of Darien's hospital bed all the way up to his chin to make sure he was nice and warm. She snuggled Mr. Carrots tighter into his arms and then hopped off the bed. "Good night, daddy. I love you," she whispered. She glanced at him for several more seconds and then quietly stepped out the door.

That's All Folks!


End file.
